By the Short Hairs
by Userunfriendly
Summary: What would happen if Tatsuya announced he was Taurus Silver at the beginning of his third year? Spoilers for Volume 16 and 17. Chapter 2 completed and posted.
1. I am Taurus Silver!

Userunfriendly here. This is a new, updated version of chapter 1. No major changes, just added text. Yes, it is silly how many times I've rewritten chapter 1, but while working on chapter 2 which should be out by Friday the latest, I realized that the part about the Third Great Puzzle and my interpretation of it couldn't be added to the existing story structure (unless added to chapter 1) until chapter 5. And since I really like my ideas on the Third Great Puzzle, I decided to update chapter 1. AGAIN. Sorry about the delays in updating, but real life sucks. Also chapter 2 is proving to be quite difficult, as it is mostly exposition about magic based thermal nuclear reactors...and panties. REALLY. Please enjoy!

BTW: I am not a physicist, so if I've committed any egregiously bad errors, please feel free to PM me or comment. I appreciate it. :)

* * *

Tuesday, April 15, 2097 Common Era

This was soon after the beginning of Shiba Tatsuya and Miyuki's final high school year. This year's crop of freshmen didn't excite any special comment, except for the fraternal twins Kosaka Kyosuke and Kosaka Kirino who exhibited a noticeable degree of sis-con and bro-con behavior. Some of the more silly minded third year students, Tatsuya and Miyuki's classmates, had mock growled to them to "stop doing their Shiba impersonation!" However, even this was halfhearted, as the joke lost its humor when the Kosakas requested an explanation. Besides, the Shibas had completely changed their status from siblings to cousins and engaged… And of course, they were YOTSUBA.

The Kosaka twins were also distinguished by them both being the Freshman Class Representatives. They had tied their entrance exams, with Kyosuke scoring higher on the technical and Kirino higher on the theory. Student Council President Shiba Miyuki had decided to invite both of them to join the Student Council, as Secretaries, along with Minami. This may not have been Miyuki's secret plan all along, but now Tatsuya, who had the ambiguous title of "Chief of Secretaries", was now often referred to as "Secretary General"(with Minami, Kyosuke and Kirino as his "army"). Despite the U.N. being long gone since WWIII, the International Society of magicians having taken over much of their function, in Miyuki's Peculiar Little Mind, her beloved "Tatsuya-sama" (obviously "Onii-sama" was no longer suitable for a fiancé) now outranked her, a mere "President". There had also been a lot of grumbling from the clubs that "as usual" the Student Council had "poached" the best Freshmen…"this time TWO of them"! Of course none of this was said in front of Miyuki, because despite all the rumors still buzzing around the school, concerning her connection to the Yotsuba, she continued to have the entire Student Body completely enthralled with her beauty and poise…

Last week, starting the second Monday of April, had been the "Week of Unbridled Shenanigans". The Moral Committee, under the leadership of Yoshida Mikihiko, had joined with Igarashi Yousuke, of the Club Management Group, and the combined forces, 30 strong, had patrolled the Freshman Recruitment Week in overwhelming numbers. They both studiously ignored the muttered complaints from the clubs, who claimed "this goes against school tradition!" contenting themselves by pointing out the reduced incidence of visits to the Infirmary compared to previous years. This was well, since this year both Shiba Tatsuya and Shiba Miyuki were notably missing for most of the "Week of Unbridled Shenanigans", claiming "pressing personal business", ("Not Family!") even leaving campus early. Fortunately, because of the decreased workload due to the Moral Committee and Club Management teaming up, Vice President Saegusa Izumi, and the other members of the Student Council were able to cope.

* * *

10:27 AM:

This session of First Magic High School's Student Council would be remembered as the "AWOL" one. Shortly after the start of the meeting, everyone promptly…deserted. First to leave had been Miyuki, Minami and to his surprise, Kyosuke. Miyuki had called a Student Body Assembly for the fifth period, and she had declared they would need the wall size video monitors set up in the Auditorium for the "special presentation". Kyosuke had been drafted to "move the monitors around so they'd be just so". Since the monitors were on motorized castors, simply using the remote control would have been fine, but Kyosuke's objections were overruled because it was "the duty of the boys to move things around for the girls." Despite his grumbles, he, like every other boy in school, dutifully did as Miyuki asked. He pretended to not notice Kirino's not-too-well-hidden smirk.

Tatsuya was the second to take his leave. He had been troubled all day, with the air of an expected and unavoidable doom hanging over his head. Tatsuya muttered something about "working the freshmen in the Mountain Club" and grabbing his jacket, strode off.

"Hey, why didn't Miyuki-san grab Tatsuya-san to set up the monitors? Oh…sorry." Said Karino as she realized to Miyuki, such tasks were beneath her "Tatsuya-sama".

Izumi was next to leave as she quickly finished up her paperwork to chase after Miyuki. Kirino giggled as she imagined her cute brother's face as yet another person who could just as easily operate the remote control to setup the monitors would join Miyuki and Minami to issue preemptory orders to "move that monitor just a few centimeters to the left…no, you idiot, the OTHER left!" He really was hopeless…

This just left Honoka and Kosaka Kirino in the Student Council Conference Room. Now was her chance…

"Erm…Mitsui-sempai, could I ask you something?"

"Sure, Kosaka-san, what's up?" Honoka looked up from her terminal. Despite the firm "taken to task" of the various clubs by Mikihiko and Igarashi-san, Freshman Recruitment Week still managed to exceed every year the previous year's costs in terms of breakage…

"Well, you're close to the Shibas, right? Since I started, I've heard so many rumors, and I've been wondering which are true…"

This was rather inevitable. The sheer number of rumors concerning Tatsuya and Miyuki among this year's Freshmen was staggering…not to mention that the truth would make the rumors pale in comparison…no strike that, if the revelations from last night were added, Kirino's jaw would literally hit the floor…

"Ok, but just the rumors. They're my friends, and I'm not going to speak about them behind their back."

Kirino actually pulled out a tablet and pulled up a list. Honoka grinned as this reminded her of herself and her habit of taking things seriously…too seriously sometimes.

"First, is it really true they're YOTSUBA?" Kirino and her brother, like Honoka, came outside of the Hundred Families. Her father was a high ranking police official, a powerful magician. Because he was an orphan, he had no idea who his birth parents were, and he deliberately chose not investigate. His policy of not wanting to get involved in the Clans was probably very wise. He did maintain cordial relations with the Chibas, like so many police officers did, and both Kirino and Kyosuke called Erika "sempai".

"Yes, they are. And Miyuki has been named as the Clan heir." Kirino's eyes widened at Honoka's simple statement.

"Wow. But Miyuki-san is so incredibly gorgeous! She's such a Yamato Nadeshiko! And the Yotsuba have such an unsavory reputation. "Kirino's voice dropped to a whisper at the last part. Kirino knew she was pretty; she had even done some modelling in junior high. Not serious stuff, just catalog shots for junior miss magazines, but she had been awestruck the first time she had seen Shiba Miyuki in person. That such…perfection even existed!

"Well, at least her cousin looks ordinary."

"No, Tatsuya-san…isn't even remotely ordinary at all. Even compared to his…fiancé."

Korino crossed off another entry in her checklist. So the rumors were true. Mitsui-sempai liked Tatsuya-san…

"Yes, I've heard that too. The rumors are…just too hard to believe. Did he really subdue 30 members of the Kenjitsu club in his freshman year without using magic? Is it really true he knows more about magic than the instructors? Is it true that his athletes in the Nine Schools Competition were invincible? Is it true…?"

"Whoa, one at a time Kosaka-san. First it was only 14 members of the Kenjitsu club he subdued, and he didn't have to hit anyone, and he didn't even bother to use magic. I didn't see it, but Erika did, so you can ask her about it directly. It's also true that every athlete, including myself, that he was engineer for in the Nine Schools Competitions have been unbeatable." Honoka smiled. Satomi Subaru's impertinence in challenging Tatsuya's "invincibility" last year had been answered by her with a decisive victory.

"Now, as for knowing more magic than the instructors? Yes, in certain areas. I think Tatsuya-san is superior in CAD programming, and in certain parts of Magical Theory, he knows more." Honoka grinned at Karino's expression. If she only knew the truth!

"I've seen Tatsuya-san's incredible performance two years ago on the NSC…and Kyosuke joined the Magic Martial Arts Club, and he tells me Chief Tomitsuka says that Tatsuya-san is the best combat magician in the school…but rumors says he's been in actual live COMBAT. REAL combat!" Kirino's voice dropped to an even lower whisper than when she asked about Miyuki and Tatsuya's connection to the Yotsubas.

"I'm not going to answer that, Kosaka, because I would be betraying a confidence. Let me think for a bit." Honoka knew she just had, but that was unavoidable. How to…smooth things over?

"Did you hear about the Blanche disturbance we had when I was a freshman? Tatsuya-kun was one of the students who fought against them, and he and Erika-san, and Leo-san helped in capturing them."

"Oh…I see."

"Disappointed, Kosaka?" So, she just really wanted to know if Tatsuya-san was "dangerous". How pitiful, if she sought that kind of thrill.

"No, it's not that at all! My father is a police officer, and he was afraid that the Magic High Schools would be attacked like the Magic Association offices in Yokohama and Kyoto. He…was worried. I mean, the riots have stopped for now, but Dad is still very concerned about it flaring up again, and…Mitsui-sempai, I'm scared of violence." Kirino wasn't like Erika-sempai; she simply didn't have any aptitude for, much less training in combat. Unlike her brother, who liked and was good at Magic Martial Arts, she really was just a normal Japanese teenage girl.

Honoka took a look at Kirino. She realized that Kirino was very much like herself. Despite having one of the best technical scores in the school, and thus being a powerful magician, Honoka didn't handle violence well. She remembered the time that she had gone with Tatsuya, Miyuki and Pixie and after the Parasites, and she had used "Evil Eye" Magic, without needing to. Tatsuya had never reprimanded her for it, but afterwards she realized her mistake. She should have waited for his command, or waited until there was a real need to use it, for example if they had been discovered by the agents who were watching for their presence. Her desire to be helpful to Tatsuya, to show off (to him), to show she could be valuable (more than Miyuki), could have compromised the mission…and put herself (and him!) in danger!

It had taken Honoka a while to accept the fact that she could never go into battle with Tatsuya, unlike Leo, Erika, or Mikihiko…or even Miyuki. She was more valuable behind him, to "watch" his back with her special skill that of an "Elemental" with the affinity for Light-based magic. But no matter what her level of power, she lacked the training and above all else, the determination to win (and survive) a life and death struggle.

"Kosaka-san…no, Kirino-san, I'm just like you. I'm scared of violence too, so I've been developing a number of Activation Sequences to flash light, very bright light, if I'm in a bad situation. I bet you have a skill or ability that could defend you in a dangerous situation, or just something that will give you time to run away. Don't you?"

"My family's trademark spell is Oriemo which is a Movement and Convergence type compound magic, which allows me to grab everything within reach, and fling it at someone. Kyosuke and I used to have fights with all the stuffed animals in my room when we were little. That's why all my teddy bears are bandaged."

Honoka giggled, and Kirino joined in, as Honoka imagined Kirino's room with the piles of stuffed animals on the bed, (just like her and Shizuku's rooms) but looking as if they had been in a war zone.

"Hey, Mitsui-sempai…" Kirino began.

"Honoka, please, Kirino-san."

"Honoka-sempai, I just had a great idea. We really should have a Magical Self-Defense class here in school for girls who…have good magic, but don't know how to recognize when they should use it, how to defend themselves, or just use their magic so they can run away from danger. Don't you think that would be a good idea? Maybe even Miyuki-san would be interested in joining…"

"Urm…no, not Miyuki-san. She doesn't look it, but she's one of the better combat-trained magicians here in the school. As for Tatsuya-san, he's…in a level that is unbelievable. His specialty is 'Gram Demolition' and both his martial arts and combat magic skills are literally unmatched."

Kirino's eyes widened at the mention of "Gram Demolition". So that's what he used in his freshman year at the NSC! She remembered the glorious, magnificent sight of Tatsuya-san unleashing his magic to blast away Ichijou-san's magic in Monolith Code. She should have made the connection! She remembered her Father swearing under his breath in admiration and awe. Well, she only learned about "Gram Demolition" her last year of Junior High…

"Ok, I feel better. Just knowing that someone of that caliber is a classmate, so if something happens, he would be there, puts me at ease. Honoka-sempai…can I ask you something?" Kirino twisted her stylus in her hand…

"Of course, Kirino-san."

"Why do they hate us? Non-magicians, I mean."

"That's a really hard question, Kirino-san. Or rather, Tatsuya-san once told me, it's a simple question disguised as a complex one. Wanna hear his answer?" At Kirino's nod, Honoka tried to remember his words, as best as she could. She was still shocked at the magnitude of the revelations from the night before, and this may explain why she was saying more than perhaps she should. Honoka was determined that she not reveal Tatsuya-san's "surprise" before the fifth period…when the Whole World would literally cry out "UWA!" Honoka grinned to herself. She and Shizuku had spent the whole night yakking on the phone, unable to keep quiet between each other about the incredible secret that Tatsuya-san had entrusted to them…

"Sorry, Kirino-san, I'm just remembering something." Of course, Tatsuya's thoughts on the problems between magicians and Non-magicians were so…cynical! And it was incredibly ironic that someone who was so pessimistic and jaded about the nature of the world toward those with magic and those without would be the one to help them understand each other more than anyone else in History! Now, how to reassure Kirino without scaring her with Tatsuya's cynicism…

"Anyway, Tatsuya-san says the reason non-magicians hate us is because of fear and envy. Because they don't understand magic, they think that magicians have the power of life and death over them. They think that magicians are all powerful, capable of snuffing out their lives with just a wave of the hand. Because they fear us, they call us 'soulless monsters' or 'things' to dehumanize us, so they can justify their hatred of us. They also can't stand the fact that they envy us." Honoka refilled her teacup from the thermos on the counter. Tatsuya-san also had this to add, that hatred and violence between groups would tend to be more intense than between individuals because once people identified themselves with a group, and identified a "enemy", fear of what would happen to them if they fell into the hands of the "enemy" was always magnified. "Because added to the natural fear of falling into the hands of the 'enemy' is the awareness of What They Themselves Would Do if they caught a member of the 'enemy'. This creates a positive feedback effect, where one group's escalation in violence causes a disproportionate increase in fear from the other side. And this would naturally cause a repeat of this process from the side that Had Not escalated." Tatsuya could be so much like a professor even when he's discussing such a fearful thing as violence and hatred! This was the reason why certain "Blanche" members had such a horror of being caught by magicians. Even their fellow magicians, once they joined "Blanche" were so afraid. Tsukasa Hajime was said to be in a psych ward being driven to the point of a complete mental breakdown by the events in their freshman year…and this was why the Only Real solution for the tensions between magicians and non-magicians is to somehow change the group called magicians to include non-magicians…

"They envy us?"

"We can fly. You've tried the Taurus Silver Flying CAD, right?" At Kirino's enthusiastic nod, Honoka smiled. Flying above the Practice Field behind the school was very popular, despite the disapproval of the chiefs of the various Clubs who denounced "wasting time when you could be practicing for this year's NSC!" Because of the generous donation from Four Leaves Technology, 10 Sustained Gravity Control Type Flying CADs were made available to each Magic High School. Each device was usually booked days in advance, to allow a First High student to experience the joys of flying like a bird…

Borrowing a flying CAD when you had a bit of free time was unofficially known as "going golfing." This was a high school after all, and this included regular non-magic classes like history. This joke referred to James the Second banning golf in England at 1457, because it distracted yeoman from archery practice. A student blowing off practice in the Clubs to "go golfing" was always guaranteed to annoy the Chief of any Club with aspirations of putting members in this year's NSC team…not to mention the razzing they got when a Club's Chief got caught sneaking off to "go golfing"...smark!

"Ok, that I can understand…"

"They also think that just because we're magicians, we're going to be paid more. They know intellectually, that magic, like anything else in life, requires hard work, and for those of us planning a military career or security, risking our lives, but they want to believe that magic gives us an 'unfair advantage'." The worst part, Tatsuya had added, was that non-magicians KNEW that magical ability was hereditary…they could NEVER, EVER have magic themselves. He then went on to mention both the French Revolution (when the hereditary French Aristocracy got their heads cut off) and the Spartacus Revolt, (all the captured slaves after his defeat were crucified) as two potential results of either Blanche won, or if magicians (pressed against the wall by Blanche) conquered the world, making non-magicians a "lesser" class. NEVER, EVER?! How…DROLL to hear that coming out of his mouth, out of Tatsuya's mouth!

"That's just stupid! Don't they understand that hard work in any field will increase pay?"

"They know that, but it's so much easier to just dismiss it as being 'unfair' rather than look at their own lives and their own inadequacies and failures. But you know, Korino-san, as bad as the fear and envy of non-magicians toward us, do you know what an even bigger problem is?"

"Urm…no?"

"We fear them even more. We know there are a thousand of them to one of us, if you look back at history, a lot of bad things have happened to small, privileged groups that held the power or wealth. And magic isn't something a non-magician could ever have." Though that was about to change…

"This is why the Clan system is so important in this country. Clans can barter with the government with a lot more power than an individual. By being part of a Clan, a single magician gains the legal protections and rights he needs to survive in a world where he's outnumbered a thousand to one. This is why so many of our classmates who belong to one of the Hundred Families consider their Clan to be all important." This was why magicians had tolerated things like the Institutes… This was why magicians had tolerated human experimentation and genetic modification to make the Clan stronger, by creating more powerful magicians, so they could protect the Clan better. Greater magic power in a Clan member translated to better bargaining position when dealing with the Government. Even the Yotsuba, which operated on two simple rules, of defense (never seeking temporal power for themselves) and revenge (no matter the cost, wrongs done to the Yotsuba would always be answered) they constantly sought to create more powerful magicians as their answer to a world that was largely hostile (as the Yotsuba saw it) to those who had magic. And Tatsuya and Miyuki would know…

"I see. I don't belong to one of the Hundred Families…"

"But like me, you have something like it. For example my best friend Shizuku, her father is one of the wealthiest industrialists in Japan."

"And my father is a senior Police Commissioner in the Metropolitan Tokyo Police Force. And that's why we can be outside the Clan system…"

"Darn, it's almost 11! I've got Magic Geometry soon! Gotta go, Kirino-san!" Honoka grabbed her stuff, to join Shizuku in Magic Geometry. And they could help each other from screaming out loud "I'VE GOT A SECRET! THE WHOLE WORLD'S ABOUT TO CHANGE!" Maybe it would help just to hold Shizuku's hands and giggle (for apparently no reason) in front of their classmates.

* * *

The Mountain Club 10:44 AM:

Because of the pitiful cries of "Don't let me die!" and "Please take it easy on us!" and even one "But I haven't even kissed a girl yet!" Tatsuya and Chief Saijou sneered at the moaning mess of First, Second and Third Year students, and ran the fourth lap alone. Tatsuya was using a combination of movement magic and running, Leo just doggedly keeping up with his (preposterous) physical abilities.

"Come on, you've had your rest! How about another lap!" Leo was practically born to be the Chief of the Mountain Club, and with his mixture of open, frank comradeship and a full body bellow that according to Mountain Club legend was amplified by a hidden CAD, he was usually very good at getting the "Sluggards" up and on their feet. However, after making the First Years run two laps, the Second and Third Years three laps of the 10 kilometer course, Tatsuya and Leo had just run the Mountain Club into the ground…

"One more lap, Tatsuya?"

"No, Leo, not if we want to take a shower before Lunch."

"Race you to the showers!"

"You're on, Leo!"

As Leo and Tatsuya dashed off toward Small Gymnasium 2, they were followed by shouts of "Monsters!" "We just ran a Marathon…someone kill me!" and the ever popular "I can't move!"

Of course as soon as Tatsuya and Leo were out of sight of the complaining Mountain Club, they both slowed down, and finding a convenient building, collapsed, their backs to the wall…

"I think I just about died on the last lap!" panted Leo.

"Me too! And who's idea was it for the fourth lap!" gasped Tatsuya.

"Well, at least you're not stressing about 'The Announcement' anymore." Smirked Leo.

"If I could move, I'd hit you, Leo!"

"I want to see that!" exclaimed Erika as she and Mizuki showed up…

"What are you doing here? Here to enjoy my suffering?"

"Ahohohoho! I've just heard that a couple of idiots were trying to run the whole Mountain Club into the ground. As you're the only two who could possibly be that dense, Mizuki and I came to watch. And Mizuki even brought a present." Mizuki approached with two half full buckets of water. At Tatsuya's and Leo's vigorous nods, due to the warm spring morning, Erika took great pleasure in dousing the pair.

"Danke! I'm alive again!"

"Thank you, Erika, Mizuki!"

Erika pulled Tatsuya up, grunting at his weight, and Tatsuya pulled Leo up, as Erika refused to haul "all that muscle and bone… especially between his ears!" Tatsuya and Leo staggered off to the showers in Small Gymnasium 2, while Mizuki and Erika headed to the Cafeteria.

"I can understand this." said Erika in response to Mizuki's puzzled look.

"Leo and Tatsuya are like me. When things get too complicated, working out our bodies is best. It helps not to think about things when they're this…Weird."

At Mizuki's vigorous nodding, Erika realizes that Mizuki was probably going to lose it, holding in the secret revealed by Tatsuya last night…

* * *

Monday, April 14, 2097 Common Era (Yesterday, after school)

4:53 PM:

When Tatsuya offered to treat, there was no hesitation. They were High School Students after all. Despite several leading hints dropped by Leo, of all people, Tatsuya and Miyuki failed to discuss whatever "project" they had been involved last week, during Freshman Recruiting.

The topic of conversation was about the legislation before the Diet, the one that was unbelievably repressive toward magicians that would require them to wear special markings in public to identify themselves. Tatsuya had explained this was a distraction for the real attack, by deliberately invoking images of the Nazis making German Jews wear the "Mogen David" on their clothing before the Holocaust. No, the real attack was the second legislation that would make all Japanese magicians register with the government…

"How is that bad? I mean we're all registered with the Magic Association and our schools…" asked Leo confusedly.

"That's because the Magic Association databases are under some of the most sophisticated anti-hacking security in the world. Some of the files are quantum locked, so you can only access them locally. That's why they tried to break into the Magic Association in Yokohama two years ago." said Erika.

"And this would set a dangerous precedent. Magicians would be seen as having fewer rights than non-magicians, because of the compulsory registration. Not to mention that the Humanist groups would finally have what they always wanted, the names and addresses of every magician in Japan. You can bet that some bureaucrat would hand over a copy of the government database on magicians with a hefty enough bribe." said Tatsuya coldly.

"But can't the government…" began Mizuki.

"The Moderates under Prime Minister Kusanagi are caught between a rock, the Humanist parties, and a hard place, the Hardliners against the GAA who favor crushing the Humanists Movement. The Moderates are going to lose the next General Election without making an alliance with either the Hardliners or Humanists. Frankly, the Humanists are the lesser of two evils, since the Hardliners want to resume hostilities with the GAA. That's why this legislation is going to pass." said Tatsuya.

"Pitiful." said Miyuki condemning the Moderates.

"Can't the 10 Master Clans do something?" asked Mikihiko.

"Not since Ichijou Gouki used Rupture on those Puppets on TV. Right now, the public are more terrified of the 10 Master Clans than just about any time since its inception. And it's not just us; the Human Ideologists movement in the USNA is stronger than ever since Jiedo Hiegu's attack."

"Can't we do anything?" asked Honoka.

Tatsuya looked at Miyuki. Their eyes met, and to everyone's surprise, Miyuki had a merry look in them, as if there was a huge private joke between the two…

"Say, do you guys want to see my 'Mad Scientist's Lab'?" asked Tatsuya out of the blue.

"Tatsuya-kun, you actually have a 'Mad Scientist's Lab'?" asked Shizuku.

"Yes, the basement of our house has my CAD laboratory. Come." By now, all of Tatsuya's and Miyuki's friends knew that Tatsuya was planning something, and the best course was to simply follow and be patient for his reveal…

* * *

An Hour Later at the Shiba residence, basement:

"HOLY COW! Tatsuya, you really do have a 'Mad Scientist's Lab'! This stuff is insane!"

"Holy…Tatsuya, this is better equipment than the school has!"

"Yes, by several generations. The stuff the school has is seriously antiquated. I'm going to have to replace this soon though. There's a newer generation of CAD Development Workstation coming out soon from FLT. I was thinking of donating this stuff to the school…"

"NO YOU WON'T Onii-sama! This has to go to the Shiba Tatsuya Museum!" Miyuki, when it was just their friends used "Onii-sama" still. They all knew Tatsuya and Miyuki were actually cousins, but they had spent their whole lives believing they were siblings.

"Yes, you're right Miyuki. As much as I hate the thought, this will have to go to a museum." said Tatsuya with a sigh.

Looking at the nonplussed and puzzled expressions on his friends, Tatsuya took a deep breath and dropped his first bombshell…

"After all, I did create Generalized Flying Magic on this Workstation."

"Urm…Tatsuya, didn't Taurus…OH MY GOD!" shouted Mikihiko.

"I'm Taurus Silver. Actually, I'm one half of Taurus Silver, Silver. Taurus is my Director of Research at FLT, Ushiyama. You see, I developed Loop Cast when I was 13, so to apply for the International Patents, I had to cosign with an adult."

"UWA! Are you freaking kidding me? Oh wait, that makes sense…"

"No, it doesn't Erika! Tatsuya-kun, you're TAURUS SILVER?!"

"Yes, he is, Mizuki." Miyuki's immense grin lit up her whole face.

"Are you kidding me…no, you're not! Tatsuya-san, you're TAURUS SILVER!"

"Guilty as charged, Honoka." Tatsuya smiled. Maybe going public wouldn't be so bad…no, these were their friends. Both Tatsuya and Miyuki had decided to tell their friends before the announcement tomorrow that would literally change their very world…

"I suspected." Shizuku had somehow managed to keep her trademark deadpan expression, despite all her friends looking as if they had been gob-smacked.

"Shizuku, you suspected?" asked Honoka of her best friend.

"I showed that CAD Tatsuya created for me our first year, to the Magic Engineer my father hired. He recommended we hire Tatsuya, at almost any price, because he must be as brilliant as 'Taurus Silver'. Next year, a generalized CAD with auxiliary sighting appeared on the FLT catalog. I suspected."

"Ugh, that's a bad memory. Sorry Shizuku, let me explain. You see my father and his mistress basically created their whole career at FLT by stealing credit for Onii-sama's inventions and innovations. Occasionally, Onii-sama has to 'horse trade' something to keep them off his back. This time it was generalized CAD with auxiliary sighting built in to be released under the FLT brand. Otherwise, Onii-sama would have released it as a product of the Third Division, the 'Silver Division' where everyone is loyal to Onii-sama."

"Woah, Miyuki, 'mistress'?" Erika would naturally be more sensitive to the word, because of her own family situation.

"Uncle Tatsurou was cheating with my Step-Aunt Sayuri the whole time he was married to Aunt Miya. They got married just six months after Aunt Miya died. Miyuki was very close to Aunt Miya, and I share Miyuki's distaste for Uncle Tatsurou. That's why I am so looking forward to tomorrow's announcement…" at this cryptic statement, Miyuki immediately smiled, (in a very evil fashion) and nodded.

"Slow down a bit, Tatsuya. What announcement?"

"Leo." Tatsuya tossed a thick, octagonal silver box about the size of a dinner plate to Leo to catch.

"Whoa, Tatsuya, isn't that kind of dangerous?" said Leo with a broad grin. Everyone was reminded of the Last Time Tatsuya had tossed over a new piece of technology he had invented, in their freshman NSC. (Leo still had the "Mini-Communicator" hanging on the wall of the Mountain Club) The silver box was unusually heavy, and had the logo of Four Leaves Technology etched on the face.

"Tomorrow, we're going public with my identity, and we're going to announce this. This is a Non-linear-Logic Lattice-based External-psion Magic Sequence ROM. Leo, you're holding the core of a Pulse-based Compound-Magic Thermonuclear Fusion Reactor in your hands." Tatsuya smiled in triumph.

This produced as strong or stronger reaction to Tatsuya's earlier admission that he was Taurus Silver…

"Tatsuya…you've solved the SECOND GREAT PUZZLE OF WEIGHT SYSTEMIC MAGIC!"

"Of course, Mikihiko. Onii-sama solved the first one after all." Miyuki smirked.

"But that's not even the biggest news. Why do non-magicians hate magicians? Onii-sama says that quite simply, non-magicians can never have magic. Tomorrow, in our announcement, Onii-sama is going to give Magic to non-magicians."

At the blank and frankly mentally overloaded faces of their friends, Tatsuya and Miyuki smiled to each other, and led them upstairs to the living room to watch the broadcast they had prepared the previous week, during Freshman Recruiting, while Miyuki and Minami prepared tea and cookies for their friends…

* * *

Tuesday, April 15, 2097 Common Era

The Cafeteria 12:14 PM:

"Geeze, I wonder what the Special Assembly is about." asked Kosaka Kyosuke. After "moving" all the monitors according to the whims and dictates of Saegusa Izumi, Shiba Miyuki and a surprisingly opinionated Sakurai Minami, Kyosuke had an aggrieved face when he looked toward Miyuki's table. As usual, "the Shiba" table was crowded with the familiar faces of Mikihiko, Erika, Leo, Mizuki, Honoka, Shizuku, Minami, Tatsuya and Miyuki. Transcending Course 1 and Course 2, as well as Magic Engineering, Student Council, Moral Committee, the Clubs and even the 10 Master Clans, this group was a legend among the freshmen. Right now, as usual, Erika or Leo had managed to provoke the other, and they were arguing it out standing up from their seats, the food forgotten. Some fool of a freshman had shouted "Get a room!" last week, and been chased out of the Cafeteria at high speed by BOTH Erika and Leo…

"No one knows except for Miyuki-san. I wish it wasn't fifth period though…" remarked Kosaka Kirino.

"Why? What's happening at 2?"

"Well, FLT's website has been shouting 'World Shaking News!' all last week and the announcement is set for 2pm today."

"It's just hype, you know. It's probably just a new CAD model. Not that I wouldn't mind it if it were." said Kosaka Kyosuke. His pride and joy was a Silver Cestus, a somewhat extravagant birthday present last week from their parents, to celebrate his joining of the Magic Martial Arts Club. A specialized CAD designed exclusively for Magic Martial Arts, after seeing Kyosuke lovingly polish it even during dinner, Kirino had taken blackmail pictures of Kyosuke sleeping with his precious toy later that night. In case, of course, Kirino needed another late night "Life Counseling" session…

"Hey guys, guess what! My second cousin's girlfriend's brother's nephew, who works at FLT says they're planning to announce who Taurus Silver is!" Bubbly cheerful and (annoyingly) hyper Himeji Mizuki rushed up to join her two friends, nearly spilling the contents of her tray on Kirino's lap in her haste to spout her (usual) half-baked rumors and the contents of various gossip sites…

"Mizuki, where have you been?"

"Tsuzura-sensei was on one of his 'oh, this reminds me' ramblings. Well? Do you think it's true?!"

"Not a chance. The whole 'mystery super genius' thing is probably just a gimmick to sell more CADs. Our Dad thinks Taurus Silver is actually a hidden department in FLT and he's really several Magic Engineers. I mean come on, Loop Cast, Generalized Flight Magic, and Thought Controlled CAD? There is no way a single person did all that." Kirino touched her birthday present, a Silver Thought Controlled CAD. It had paired perfectly with her year old Silver Torus, her favorite CAD and though it was hard learning to use it properly, she loved being able to use her Magic with just a thought.

"Aw, come on! I betcha Taurus Silver really is real! I wonder when we'll find out what he's like…"

"You're obsessed Mizuki. I doubt we'll ever find out who he is. And if we do, he's probably really old, and looks funny." Kirino had a secret. She was even more obsessed with Taurus Silver than her friend Mizuki, and even more embarrassingly, she frequented a doujinshi (self-published) site. Her newest obsession/addiction was Taurus Silver Yaoi (Boy's love) Manga. NOT PORN! So not porn…it was beautifully drawn, a work of art! So NOT porn! Ok, it was PG-13 with just an occasional rated R. Still SO not porn!

The artist who drew her favorite manga, "Silver-dono!" had given the blond and blue eyed protagonist (obviously the artist's fevered imagination) the body of an Adonis…drawn in such loving detail…no, no, no! So not PORN!

"Yeah, Mizuki, Kirino's right. I bet if Taurus Silver was really real, he's gotta be middle aged, and squints."

"Oh, that would be SO disappointing…oh my FREAKING GOD!" Mizuki had just set her tablet to the FLT website, to see if there was anything new about the announcement scheduled for today, and it said in big bold letters "Taurus Silver to announce solving of the Second Great Puzzle of Systemic Weight Magic in Person! Today, Japan time, 1400!"

"Mizuki, what's wrong?!"

"LOOK!"

"OH MY GOD!" shouted Kirino to the whole cafeteria!

"EVERYONE! PULL OUT YOUR TABLETS AND GO TO THE FLT WEBSITE!"

"Are they kidding? No, they're not kidding! Whoo! Yeah, Taurus Silver rocks!" The babble of hundreds of high school students as they excitedly commented on this literally World-Shaking news filled the Cafeteria. Miyuki could be seen pulling out her tablet and typing rapidly…

Then there was a sudden cacophony of beeps as everyone's personal tablets received a mass text from the First Magic High School Student Council.

"Dear Students, I guess you've all heard the news from FLT. Well, because of Tatsuya-sama's job as a beta-tester, and paid intern at Four Leaves Technology, we received advance notice of this Event which will happen at 2pm. This broadcast is what today's special Assembly is all about. So please, don't be late, and we can all watch together! Thank you, Shiba Miyuki."

There was a sudden and spontaneous clapping as all the students in the Cafeteria realized they were all going to watch History being made in the Auditorium with their friends and classmates.

"I'm going to kill Director Ushiyama…"

"It's ok, Miyuki, he just jumped the gun updating the website a bit early. When I talked to him this morning he could barely contain himself. Hey, this is fine; the news will spread worldwide like we planned, so people will be watching. Calm down, ok?" Tatsuya stroked Miyuki's hair, and as she leaned to each caress, the stress faded from her eyes with a sigh.

"Um…come on guys, we're in the Cafeteria! Miyuki, is this part of the plan?"

"Yes, we want to have most of the planet watching when we broadcast. We planned to update the website at 12:30 to give just enough time for the news to spread without making FLT a target for every freelance and investigative journalist in Japan. Oh well, it's almost 12:30 anyway." Miyuki smiled at Erika as she shifted her chair a bit closer to her Onii-sama…

"Well, we also did want to ruin Uncle Tatsurou's lunch, so we scheduled it just as he and Sayuri would normally sit down. Close enough, I guess." smirked Tatsuya.

"Tatsuya-kun, paid intern?" asked Shizuku.

"That's my official title. I still don't have a license as a Magic Engineer, right?" Shizuku was reminded again of the time she had tried to hire Tatsuya for her family. Her dad had supported her idea, because he had wanted to challenge FLT's domination in the CAD market, and he thoroughly understood the value and rarity of genius…they both agreed that first hiring Tatsuya as Shizuku's personal CAD Technician would be the perfect way to gradually offer him more and more…

"Onii-sama's full title is 'Senior Paid Intern, Senior Engineer in Charge of Advanced Magic Engineering and Research, and Senior Engineer in Charge of Advanced CAD Design and Architecture." While it may have started out as a joke to assign him the title of "Senior paid intern" when Tatsuya had started working for FLT, because of his age, (Tatsuya was 14 when he started at the Third Division, by far the youngest working there and the only "intern") and in contrast to how everyone called him "Young Master", it quickly became evident that Tatsuya was in fact one of the Senior Engineers at the Third Division, in knowledge and expertise. So it became official, carrying on the joke, when Tatsuya was recognized after the first year as the Third Division's best Core Developer.

"We'll, as long as he's SENIOR paid intern." Honoka giggled at Leo's remark.

"Well, I'm still a minor, no high school degree…" everyone at their table grinned.

* * *

Four Leaves Technology, Corporate Offices:

"TATSUROU, DID YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THIS?!"

"Calm down, Sayuri! What are you…are you FREAKING KIDDING ME!" Tatsurou Shiba picked up his phone and called his son…his nephew's phone number.

"TATSUYA, WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!"

"Now, now Tatsurou-san, is that any sort of tone to take with my most beloved son?" the velvety voice of the Demon Lord of the Far East, and the most feared magician in the world answered Tatsuya's phone.

"I deeply apologize, Maya-sama. I was expecting to talk to my nephew." Tatsurou started to shake as soon as he realized that he had raised his voice to a woman who could end his life as easily as he would step on a bug…and with far less hesitation…Sayuri turned pure white in raw terror…

"Well, I guess it was an honest mistake. But Tatsurou-san, remember in the future that raising your voice to my Tatsuya is the same as raising your voice to me. Now, remember your value to the Yotsuba is purely as a non-incompetent manager for our business interests, and you and your charming wife are completely replaceable. If at some point I or MY SON decide you're of more utility to the Yotsuba as human medical experimentation subjects, well, let's just skip that unpleasant thought, shall we?" The girlish giggle at the end was more terrifying than anything else Tatsurou had ever heard in his life…

"Tatsurou-san, here's my best, and kindest advice to you. Did you know my beloved niece and heir despises you and Sayuri-san? Her biggest problems with the two of you is in trying to steal the credit for my brilliant son's inventions and innovations in the past and how you treated my late sister, Miyuki's mother. Well, as you know, as children grow up their priorities change, and if you were counting on familial love to spare you and Sayuri-san, her response might surprise you. She may be a Shiba now, but someday she will be Yotsuba Miyuki. That name comes with responsibilities in acting a certain way to maintain respect, and she may decide you'll both be more useful as 'examples'. Nothing messy I trust, it's so gauche to order your blood kin…well, never mind. But Miyuki may decide spending the rest of your lives in abject poverty may be appropriate. I'm quite inclined to let both of you stay right where you are, as in this economy, even non-incompetent managers may require some effort to find. You may even keep your income from the common stocks you inherited from my sister. Tatsuya cares very little about money, except as a useful tool for his research projects, and it will all revert to Miyuki when she turns 19 anyway. Both of you should be humble, be polite to your BETTERS like MY SON and MY NIECE, work hard and you should be fine." Every word spoken by Maya was that of a kind and benevolent relative, giving good advice to kin. And each word was literally chilling…

"Oh, yes. Do both of you be dears, and watch the broadcast at 2. This broadcast is going to be incredible…my, I literally cannot believe just how proud I am of my son…he will change the world! I also recommend not trying to contact Tatsuya or Miyuki-chan for a while. For the rest of your lives will do. Ta-ta! Kiss, kiss! Toot-a-loo!" It was grotesque to hear Maya chirp her goodbye.

Tatsurou ran over to his personal bathroom as soon as he heard the click, and threw up the entire contents of his stomach…and dry heaved for the next half an hour. Sayuri simply curled up in a ball and shook silently.

* * *

Magic University, Cafe:

"Rin-chan, are you…are you bitter?"

"Not really, Mayumi. Actually, all I've really hoped for was to work on the team that would solve Gravity Control-Type Thermonuclear Fusion after my graduate studies were complete. I am not deluded about my talent. I'm not a genius. I'm just good enough to recognize it…" Ichihara Suzune bowed her head.

"Do you really think we'll find out who Taurus Silver is from this broadcast?" asked Watanabe Mari.

"I doubt it, Mari, I mean, 'the Mysterious Super Genius Taurus Silver' is such a good sales gimmick for Four Leaves Technology, right? And every time he pulls off something like this, it makes him seem even more mysterious and fascinating. A-chan could give you volume and verse…" said Mayumi with a saucy grin.

"I will tell you that I would be bitter, very, very bitter, if we do find out who he is, and it turns out he's young. If he's in his early thirties, or late twenties, I may lose it." remarked Suzune, lifting her head.

"No way, Rin-chan. I can barely read the technical books on Loop Casting, and the combination of electronics and magic for the Flying Device is just so hard to understand…"

"Yeah, gotta be, right? I mean, I can barely understand a page here and there in the technical papers he's published. His knowledge of magic has to be immense! That amount of knowledge must have taken decades to acquire. I bet he's over fifty." said Mari.

"At least sixty. Probably has a cane."

"Nah, he's over seventy, has a wheelchair or walker, and probably smells bad."

"Gotta be!" giggled Suzune.

"Kay, girls, I've gotta go. 1:45 at Suzune's apartment, right? Who else is going to be there?"

"Just A-chan. A-chan will be a bit late, though, she's got class."

"Ok, I've got to go too. I'll bring snacks! See you!"

* * *

Third Magic High School:

"Excited, George?"

"Oh, come on Masaki, there is no way that they're going to reveal the true identity of Taurus Silver. He's too good a publicity for FLT remaining as the 'Enigmatic Genius'. Though I have to admit, Gravity Controlled Thermonuclear Fusion Reactor…maybe they'll reveal it after all. He'll just have solved not one but two of the Great Puzzles in Weight Magic. The man has got to be…awesome."

"Well, since we'll find out in a couple of hours…the prep going well for the new magic?"

"Slow, but safe. I mean this is new magic, after all. Herd control is just not documented well."

"Do not worry about it, George. It would be absolutely ok if we dropped the 'Shotgun'. Don't worry about the money my dad spent to buy the activation sequence; we still have a few months to go yet. If you can get it to work with your Invisible Bullet, that's fine, but if not, it's not. We'll focus on the other stuff we've prepared."

"I know you can't talk about the times you've spent with 'him', because it's Clan business, but how is 'he' in real battle?"

"Brilliant, terrifying, and enigmatic. I still have NO idea about half the magics he used. I'll tell you this, George, if we faced him in real battle, no restrictions, we'd lose for sure. The guy casts magic faster than I'd thought possible, and whatever the hell he used…I really, really wish I could tell you everything, George. My grades say I'm a good magician, and I thought I understood magic well, but seriously…I feel like an idiot." Kichijouji Shinkurou had never asked any questions about the time Masaki had joined Juumonji Katsuto and of course, "him" in hunting down Jiedo Heigu. His expression had been…harrowed. From what little Masaki had been willing to talk about, Jiedo Heigu had been cornered in a block of old abandoned warehouses…but it had actually been a trap. The warehouses had been filled with magical and mechanical Death Traps…and Masaki's eyes had been haunted as he simply stopped talking at that point. He then rubbed his left arm as if…something. George would wait, until Masaki was ready, or even if he was never ready, that was fine.

"Well, Masaki, with Non-Systemic, they say every single magic in that group is its own exception. Anyway, this year is a LOCK!"

"This year for sure! I'll tell you this, George, just between you and me, I don't care if we win the NSC this year, as long as we beat Shiba Tatsuya in Monolith Code, I will count my high school years a triumph."

"I'm sorry Masaki, since I get two cracks at him and you only one. I really wish you could help in the Thesis Competition…"

"That's completely fine, George. I know I'm a physical type. Anyway, we're going to take 2 brand new magic's with us to this year's NSC. Three if you can get 'Shotgun' to work. I think that's enough, eh?"

"Unless the guy manages to hire Taurus Silver, we're going to win for sure. Meet you in the Common Room before 2pm?"

"See you."

* * *

USNA, Arlington, Virginia:

"Hello?"

"Lina? It's Sylvie. Did you hear the news?"

"Yep, I got some snacks, did my homework and unless I'm summoned, I'm going to veg out on my couch and watch. Wanna come?"

"Sure. At this point, everyone should just watch the broadcast. I mean, there's already too damned much speculation for my nerves here at Data Analysis. I just want to slap some of the people on the back of the head and say 'you moron! Those are just WAGs!'(Wild Ass Guesses) Well, WHOEVER Taurus Silver is, he's stirred up a huge ruckus. I hear there's already an analysis and response group forming in the Pentagon. Are they just stupid? Nobody knows anything right now! Gah!"

"That's why I'm in my quarters. Isn't 'Military Intelligence' an oxymoron?" snarked Angelina Kudo Shields.

"Well, you're in the military too. By the way, Lina, don't you have a FLT CAD?"

"Yep, and don't I get razzed about having a personal CAD made in Japan. I really like my SilverPad. And it's not even like I don't use the issue stuff, but your personal should be your choice, right?" Lina touched the Silver Thought Control CAD around her neck. It had been a very pleasant surprise this Christmas to receive it addressed from the Shibas. As frustrating as her mission had been, she had made some good memories…good friends and rivals…and met an incredibly dangerous, frustrating, and mysterious boy…no, man…

"Well, whatever. It's not like it's going to hurt Maximilian Industries if they lose one sale. I just wanted to know if you were excited."

"To see them solve the Second Great Puzzle of Weight Magic, yes, but there's just no way they'll reveal Taurus Silver's identity without a lot more hoopla. I mean he's already solved the First Great Puzzle, right? And I bet it doesn't hurt FLT's sales to keep him mysterious and unknown. He'd be a lot less interesting if everyone knew who he was."

"Yeah, you're right. Ok, I'll see you in a bit."

"Could you bring some yogurt covered pretzels? I forgot to pick up some."

"No prob."

"Thanks!"

* * *

First Magic High School, 1:56 PM:

The entire Student Body was seated and already getting impatient as they saw the Four Leaves Technology logo on the big wall monitors that Kosaka Kyosuke had set up, with a lot of extraneous "advice". And where was Shiba Tatsuya? He was offstage, sitting calmly, enjoying what may be the last quiet moment of his life…

"Are you ok, Tatsuya-san?"

"I'm just…thinking, Honoka. My old life is ending, and I'm about to walk forward to...I'm remembering all the good times and the bad ones, and the all the memories we all made together. " Honoka sat down next to Tatsuya, and smiled. Tatsuya had actually been reviewing on all the plans that he, Youtsuba Maya, and Major Kazama had made. This whole operation was incredibly complex and depended so much on factors they couldn't control, on events that they could not predict, and of course, there was no way to know what was going to happen. But this didn't mean that he couldn't give Honoka a response that would make her feel better…to hopefully make HER less nervous. They had prepared as best as they could, they had prepared as many contingencies as could be foreseen, the rest depended on their skill in improvisation to counter the unexpected. Despite the upper limit to Tatsuya's emotions, he wouldn't be human unless he did feel at least some of the tension and stress before something like THIS…

"It's going to be ok, Tatsuya-san. You know we're always going to be there for you, right?"

"Thank you, Honoka. Please excuse me." Tatsuya got up to head for the bathroom, intending to splash some cold water on his face. He had read in one of the fiction books that Miyuki had given him (in order to help him understand normal human relationships) that this is what people do before pivotal moments in their lives. While he was skeptical to its efficacy, it was worth a try. This was the last calm before the storm…

"Onii-sama!" Tatsuya motioned Miyuki to stay as he continued on…

"Nerves." Said Honoka succinctly (and incorrectly) as Miyuki looked worried. At this Miyuki smiled, though not for the reason that Honoka thought. "It is so not true that Onii-sama doesn't feel anything." Books on psychology that she's read about people who have had parts of their brain injured or removed by surgery indicated that in some cases (age being the most important factor), the patients gradually recovered lost cognitive functions over time…and though Mental Interference Magic wasn't the same thing, she always had hoped her beloved would gradually gain back what he had lost when he was 6 years old…

In truth, the person who was the most on edge, closest to losing it or exhibiting symptoms of an uncontrollable manic state was…Miyuki. For years, even their friends had dismissed her attitude of "Onii-sama is perfect in every way" attitude, ascribing it as mere "hard-core brocon complex". Now, after last night, they've finally been introduced to the incredible towering genius that he is, achievements that have been praised throughout the Entire World, it was all they could do to keep from showing their awe at the friend they thought they knew...this was merely what should be. When her Onii-sama had won against all the odds against one of the strongest combat magicians of his generation, the Ichijou "Crimson Prince", when he destroyed Blanche almost single handed, when their friends were helping Onii-sama hunt parasites, hunt Zhou Gongjin, and were breathless at seeing his matchless skills in combat…this was merely what should be. Now the whole world would be shaken by his footsteps, as he shows them the new Technology he had literally created from nothing, as his ideas and inventions heralds a new age for all of Mankind…this was merely what should be. Now her Onii-sama and she would live the rest of their lives, as man and wife, this is what should be!

But the world didn't work as it should. Miyuki had wept for her Onii-sama, denied the proper recognition for so many years, and the worst part was his complete indifference to the acclaim that should have been his. Miyuki cared not for the mindless adulation of the masses, or the vulgar hordes desperately seeking time with her precious Onii-sama out of self-interest or gain, but it was criminal that he would be denied the place he had ALREADY earned in the history books, under an ALIAS!

Miyuki wasn't the type to have a false sense of reality. Onii-sama had patiently explained his logic, and his reasoning, and promised her a "Year of Glory" as he stepped forward from the concealing shadows. Their secrets would inevitably come out, as the attention of the Entire World focused on the couple…that much was as inevitable…her love that was forbidden, that would be the object of scorn and disgust, and his power that the world would not, COULD not dare to allow the existence of, a power that held a loaded gun to every man, woman and child on this planet…inevitably they would find no place in the world of men and women. His conclusion from this was as inevitable, as was the solution elegant…and heartbreaking. But that would be then, this was the NOW…

Honoka watched Miyuki and Tatsuya-san lean closer to converse before heading off to their seats in the auditorium. She thought back to the first times she had met Shiba Tatsuya, and even then (as now) her fingers had twitched in an almost uncontrollable urge to try to tame the trademark cowlick on his forehead. (a lock of hair that grows in a direction different from the rest and that resists being combed flat) Now, her (though she knew it had never been true) Tatsuya-san was literally about to become a figure in the history books. Honoka had never deluded herself as to who she was, just an ordinary girl with the extraordinary gift of strong magic. He literally was an existence she could never understand. They say that genius was the ability to comprehend very complex things in a very simple fashion, and Honoka had seen that yet again last night, after they had all watched the previously prepared broadcast that would air for the entire world in just a few minutes, with the almost throwaway comment by Shiba Tatsuya that he knew how to solve the last Great Puzzle of Weight Magic…

* * *

Monday, April 14, 2097 Common Era (after watching the footage of what would be broadcast the following day, still at the Shiba residence):

"Tatsuya-san, you…you know how to solve the Third Great Puzzle of Weight Magic?"

"Actually I've known since our freshman year. It's just that the technology to actually implement it has been lacking, until we made the breakthroughs in February and now it's possible to actually build it."

"Tatsuya-san, you've known since your freshman year?!"

"Sorry Honoka, can I interrupt? I've never really understood the Third Great Puzzle. I mean what perpetual motion has to do with interplanetary travel…"

"And I've never quite understood either." Everyone trusted and liked Tatsuya's explanations. This had always been true; they relied on him to explain concepts in magic they had trouble with. And it was always fun to watch Tatsuya-kun go professor mode…

"Ok, guys. First, from an engineering viewpoint, all three of the Great Puzzles are about solving the problems in interplanetary and interstellar travel **.** For example, in this context Generalized Flight magic is really all about a way to move the larger components of an interplanetary craft to outside the Earth's gravity well. This way, you only need to build a craft with an interplanetary drive, rather than build and use multiple ascent engines to move your major components into orbit. You don't have to worry about streamlining, because you're going to float your components outside the atmosphere, and you don't have to build each part it with the structural integrity to survive the high g-forces generated from an orbital ascent. Whether or not you use a rocket or the Kilimanjaro mass-driver, an orbital ascent generates hundreds of G's stress to the frame, and internals. The idea is to use Generalized Flight magic to float your interplanetary vehicle to a Lagrange point, outside of the Earth's effective gravity well. This way you don't have to worry about the Earth's orbital velocity, no need to assemble your vehicle in Earth orbit. And you don't have to worry about changing from one to another inertial frame of reference…"

"Urm…help? Inertial frame of reference?"

"The Earth is orbiting the sun at about 30 kilometers a second. Let's say you want to travel to Mars. Mars orbits the sun at 24 kilometers a second. For the Mars expedition of 2051, they built the vehicle in low earth orbit, which is about 7 kilometers per second. Each of these orbits is their own inertial frame of reference, and to travel from one to another, like from Earth to Mars require fuel. Not only do you have to travel the distance from Earth to Mars, you also have to match the orbit of Mars around the Sun. What Generalized Flight Magic does is similar to Flash Step (personal inertial reduction magic), in that the magic TEMPORARILY renders an eidos exempt from the current inertial frame of reference. Once the magic terminates, it goes back to the original frame of reference. This is why when Flash Step terminates, you stop instantly. If you move an object from the Earth's surface to a Lagrange point with Generalized Flight Magic, once the magic ends, it will stay at the Lagrange point, because like the Earth, a Lagrange point is a stable point in the Earth's orbit around the Sun. While it is impractical to use Generalized Flight magic to put objects into EARTH orbit, it is completely practical to use Generalized Flight magic to put objects into SOLAR orbit. You start out with the inertial frame of reference of an object on earth, which orbits the sun, and you end with the same inertial frame of reference of an object orbiting the sun, at a Lagrange point. You don't even need to expend fuel to move from Earth orbit to a solar orbit, which requires you to dump the velocity generated to reach Earth orbit. A zero sum equation. An engineering dream…" Tatsuya smiled. If only dealing with people could be as simple as physics…

"Urm…Lagrange point?"

"Stable points in the orbit of the earth around the sun where if you put satellites, their orbits will never decay. Now, that's Generalized Flight Magic. Incidentally, we can't really use Generalized Flight Magic for building up the current near Earth orbital infrastructure. We can't put up satellites with Generalized Flight Magic, because while we can use Flight magic to leave the atmosphere, we still need to generate the 7 kilometers per second velocity to achieve a geosynchronous or low Earth orbit. Otherwise, it falls straight down. But once you leave the Earth's gravity well using Generalized Flight magic, Lagrange points are no problem, because you've never lost your original orbital velocity of an object orbiting the sun."

Tatsuya suddenly looked thoughtful, and scribbled something on his pad.

"Um?"

"Sorry, a thought. While you can't use Generalized Flight magic to put satellites into low earth or geo-synch orbit, you might be able to use it as a method to generate a gravity assist to achieve the delta-v for a Molniya orbit (a highly elliptical earth orbit) if you drop your payload at about a million kilometers away, so it falls toward the earth…I wonder how much additional thrust it would need to generate the 3 kilometers per second needed…no, simpler to use Field Equations rather than classical Newtonian mechanics to describe…because you're outside the orbit of the moon, you'd have to use the barycenter of the Earth and Moon…"

Erika wrapped her arms on her head, and everyone (except Tatsuya, who was still thinking, and Miyuki who was watching Tatsuya-kun enraptured) smirked. This was in reference to the group's joke about how "Tatsuya's head must hurt all the time because he's always thinking really hard things."

"And the second Great Puzzle?"

"That's simple enough. Once beyond the orbit of Mars, solar radiation falls dramatically, so you need something other than solar cells to power your spaceship."

"Ok, development of a perpetual motion device using the…"

"Development of a perpetual motion device based on the model of unlimited inertial expansion."

"Thanks."

"Let's look at the wording. A perpetual motion device has only one meaning to a physicist. A Perpetual Motion Device is something that violates the first and second laws of thermodynamics, covering the conservation of energy, and the tendency of entropy to increase. Not possible. The universe just doesn't work that way. But to an engineer, it violates something even more fundamental. It violates the rules of TANSTAAFL, and this is why it fascinated and still fascinates engineers today."

"TANSTAAFL?"

"A term from before space flight, comes from a USNA author? (Robert A. Heinlein, "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress") TANSTAAFL stands for 'There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch". Despite the double negative in the original English, it means in engineering there is no way to do something without cost. All Perpetual Motion Machines imply extracting energy from…nothing. Of course, magic constantly seems to violate the first and second laws, though that may simply be due to the fact we don't know enough laws…"

"And the Infinite Inertial Expansion?"

"Inertial contraction is increasing mass, inertial expansion is decreasing mass. It all comes down to Classical Relativity. The closer and closer you get to the speed of light, your spacecraft increases in mass. Eventually, near the speed of light, your spacecraft will become almost infinite in mass, infinite inertial COMPRESSION. So this sets up a limiter. The faster you travel, the more outrageously powerful your engines have to be. And by the time you get to really useful velocities, enough to visit the nearer stars in a human lifetime, your starship will require almost infinite energy to accelerate. So the idea is to somehow use inertial reduction or expansion, to bypass this vicious cycle…in effect, a contradiction in physics, a way to DECREASE the energy needed as your spacecraft goes faster and faster...a true perpetual motion… "

"Huh?"

"Classical Relativity tells us that as your velocity increases, your mass increases. So it takes more and more energy the greater the inertial compression. Let's invert that. If you DECREASE the inertial mass, it should be able to extract velocity from the inertial expansion. Simple and elegant, it turns out that the Lorentz Transformation equations to describe both contraction and its inverse, expansion, solves correctly. Remember also I'm talking about real space velocity, not the 'pseudo' velocity when using Flash Step or other inertial reduction magic. That falls under the category I described before, as an exemption from your local inertial frame of reference. You lose that velocity when the magic ends. So a fully realized solution to the Third Great Puzzle is a real space propulsion system that actually uses LESS power the faster it goes, inverting the limits imposed by Classical Relativity, extracting energy from itself, a true perpetual motion machine, using the magic for inertial expansion."

This actually wasn't correct. A full solution for the Third Great Puzzle was "infinite inertial expansion" or reducing the rest inertial mass of a spacecraft to zero…which according to General Relativity would instantly accelerate the space craft to light speed. As this was impossible (the spacecraft would immediately assume infinite mass when the magic ends, and most likely instantly collapse smaller than its Schwartzchild radius, becoming a black hole…travelling at near light speed!), it was implied that a full solution could never be achieved. That is why magic engineers sought a partial solution, a "realizable" solution, something they could actually build…

"And there's a magic to do that?"

"Yes, and it depends on the answers to three questions. First of all, I have to order two satellites, in geosynchronous orbit above the earth's magnetic poles. Its long been speculated, that due to the fact that psions are affected by magnetic fields, that the earth's north and south magnetic poles are super saturated in un-individualized psions. The Earth's population is around 6 billion, and as you all know people produce psions, even if they're not magicians. Those psions have to go somewhere, and we've always suspected that the Earth's Van Allen belt acts like a collector."

"Van Allen belt?"

"The center of the Earth is a giant sphere of molten iron. Due to the fact that the Earth is rotating, it is rotating as well, due to Coriolis Effect. This generates the Earth's magnetic poles. Like any magnet, the earth is thus surrounded by a magnetic field, the Van Allen belt. This field is actually vital to the earth being inhabitable, in that it deflects solar wind. Otherwise, like Mars, which lost its magnetic field millions of years ago, solar wind would have eventually abraded away most of our atmosphere, like the Mars of today. Now, we all know that despite not fitting the Standard Model of Physics, psions are still affected by electrical and magnetic fields, right? Otherwise CADs couldn't work. The speculation among Magic Researchers has always been that the Van Allen belt collects all the un-individualized psions generated by the Earth's population, and it would concentrate them above the North and South poles."

"Tatsuya-kun, if this is so, why hasn't anyone tried to use this source of psions?"

"Un-individualized psions, or psions that are not generated by a single magician, or under his or her control, is just Cast Jamming. Magicians can't use them, but this can." Said Tatsuya, holding up a "Silver Stone".

"So, the idea is that we put collectors over the North and South magnetic poles, and we can power the magical devices in our interplanetary, and eventually, interstellar ships using the aggregate psions from everyone on Earth. This is the real reason I've called this project 'ESCAPES'. It really stands for 'Extra Solar Communications And Propulsion for Exploration and Settlement'. Even while working on the Generalized Gravity magic, I've been aiming at and I've always been aiming for the Stars." On Earth, Tatsuya's ability to decompose matter into energy was an unimaginable and intolerable threat to humanity. On an interplanetary or interstellar craft, as the Chief Engineer, or more specifically the Engine of such a craft, converting matter into energy was an unimaginable asset and necessary to make such a craft practical. Given the unimaginably vast distances involved in just Solar System travel, much less interstellar travel, you absolutely needed incredible power sources. Or do you? It had been a complete shock to Tatsuya when he realized the potential in his solution to the Third Great Puzzle, which could be MORE efficient than even a spacecraft powered by "E=MC^2"… Tatsuya found it ironic that he personally had created technology that made his designs for a fusion powered, or TC powered (Total Conversion of matter into energy) explorer pretty much obsolete…Tatsuya had created and worked on multiple projects called "ESCAPES" over the years, each really a subproject of his one overriding dream, of exploring the very stars themselves…to justify his very existence. Even in his private documents, he had always laid out the project goals for ESCAPES (version 1, 1.4, 2.2 and so on) as a way for magicians to "escape" their fates as living weapons… this would of course, include himself.

Everyone was speechless for a few seconds. Miyuki, who more than anyone appreciated her Onii-sama's incomparable intellect and the depth and breadth of his imagination, was again reminded of T. E. Lawrence. She softly quoted, "All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible."

"Um…um…the other two questions, Tatsuya-kun?"

Tatsuya grinned evilly, and looked at Chiba Erika.

"What?"

"Erika, do you have full legal ownership and copyright over the Chiba family magic 'Yamatsunami'? And what kind of a bribe would you accept? That's it, those are the three questions."

"'Yamatsunami'? Tatsuya-kun, what are you talking about?"

"The Chiba family magic 'Yamatsunami' can allow us to achieve Jupiter orbit in less than 100 days of travel time and it could eventually give mankind the Stars."

"Tatsuya, what the heck?!"

"When I helped you refine 'Yamatsunami Tsubamegaeshi', I realized that unlike every other inertial-reduction magic I knew, 'Yamatsunami' somehow stores the inertial energy, and instead of the enhanced slash at the end with Orochimaru, this can be modified to generate velocity in real space."

Tatsuya kept quiet about his personal speculations on the exact mechanism used by Yamatsunami to "store" the inertial energy. Tatsuya suspected that Yamatsunami somehow stored the inertial energy as superimposition of several eigenstates, and generated a wave function collapse, or a quantum decoherence at the end. As none of his friends had studied Quantum Mechanics, it would only serve to confuse them. And anyway, the idea that Yamatsunami exhibited quantum mechanical properties at a MACRO level was still a shock to Shiba Tatsuya. Tatsuya sighed mentally. There were so many demands on his schedule, and it would be a while before he could allot some time to investigate this lovely little puzzle…All magic engineers rigorously studied physics and the other "hard" sciences. As magic was the ability to "deftly deceive the world" you have to have a pretty good understanding of how the world works normally before setting out to "con" it…

"Tatsuya-kun, 'Yamatsunami' doesn't work that way…"

"I'm sorry Erika, it does work that way. At the end of 'Yamatsunami' you're enhancing the inertial of 'Orochimaru'. Your slash can reach up to ten metric tons of force, right? From a physics viewpoint, enhancing the slash of your sword is exactly the same as propelling your body forward. 'Yamatsunami' multiples the mass and velocity of your sword at the end, why not change the magic to multiply the mass and velocity of your body at the end? As I said, the equations are the same. So, let's say you want to go to Mars. You generate real velocity using your engines, and after you've reached a certain velocity, you activate 'Yamatsunami'. Naturally, you'd cover a huge distance in a flash, due to the inertial reduction. Then when 'Yamatsunami' terminates, the stored inertial energy from the inertial reduced 'run' can be used by the magic to add velocity to the spacecraft in real space. I like the term 'Yamatsunami Drive' for the magical device that would be used, but Miyuki likes the term 'pushmipullyu' that she got from some children's book she read years ago. She says it's more descriptive." (pushmipullyu is the two headed animal from "The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle" by Hugh Lofting)

"I kinda have to agree with Miyuki, since if you're using this propulsion system, you're constantly running on inertial reduction, and extracting real space velocity, then going back on inertial reduction, and extracting real space velocity. In fact, from my tests, this is a positive feedback system, so the faster you go, the MORE velocity you extract this process is. As you move faster and faster, your mass increases, making this process progressively more and more effective. Beautiful… In effect, the 'Yamatsunami' drive becomes a velocity multiplier. I did some initial tests a while back, and every time you run the sequence, you're multiplying your velocity by 1.84 times. In under a solar year, just by running the 'pushmipullyu' ten times a day, a spacecraft can reach a significant fraction of light speed using this… There are maybe too many questions that have to be answered before we launch the first interstellar ship for our lifetimes, for example, does the velocity multiplication continue at significant fractions of the speed of light, what to do about interstellar dust accelerated to relativistic speeds hitting our interstellar craft, and visible light Doppler shifted to hard gamma killing the crew, but the technology is sound and it does work." A propulsion system that actually becomes MORE powerful the faster you go…unbelievable. And a direct contradiction of all common sense. (at least to a physicist) No wonder that this system was described as "Development of a PERPETUAL MOTION DEVICE based on the model of unlimited inertial expansion."

Everyone had looked at Tatsuya as if he had grown a second head. (Mizuki loved Douglas Adams) To dream of the stars when you're just a teenager, and to ACTUALLY develop the magical technology to realize his dream…

Of course, we could always leave it to Leo to have the last word…or at least attempt to.

"So, Tatsuya, you've created not just one but TWO space drives that use the hybrid of magic technology and real technology?" Leo was referring to the fact that Tatsuya had already revealed a magic based spacecraft AND aircraft propulsion system during his presentation that actually didn't use the Third Law of Motion… (for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction) he called the "Impulse Drive"…

"Baka! Aho! Magic technology IS real technology!"

"There's no way I'll accept that from the person who scored worse than me in theory, Erika!"

"Two point difference, Leo!" As everyone sighed at the usual thing, Leo and Erika went at it again…

* * *

Mitsui Honoka had realized last night that Shiba Tatsuya would, could never be hers. She remembered vividly the very instant she had fallen in love with Tatsuya. It happened when Tatsuya had displayed his kindness in saving her from suspension or even being expelled in that confrontation with Morisaki in her freshman year. It was a gradual, slow awareness over the years as she realized that he wasn't just a kind, thoughtful person, but that he was truly and honestly exceptional and…brilliant beyond her comprehension. He was flying away from her at the speed of light, and she lacked the wings to follow. (to be more accurate, he was flying away from her at a significant fraction of light speed, but then again, Honoka had good grades in physics) Now, in just a few moments, Shiba Tatsuya would join Einstein, Tesla, Darwin and other Names throughout history whom had changed the world itself with their ideas…

Mitsui Honoka would never realize that this was the real reason why she would never "be" with Shiba Tatsuya. She thought herself as someone ordinary, who had no "right" to someone as extraordinary as he was. She simply lacked the courage to see herself as being "worthy" to follow Tatsuya, to become more than she thought she was, or thought she could be. And this would be a sadness that she would feel the rest her life and a deep regret that she would never quite understand…

* * *

Tuesday, April 15, 2097 1:59 PM First Magic High School, Main Auditorium

Thirty seconds before 2:00 PM, a countdown timer appeared in the center of the Four Leaves Technology logo…

"Five, Four, Three, Two, One!" everyone counted down…as the timer reached "0" a picture filling the whole screen appeared on the monitor.

The first image seen by the students, and simulcast to the entire world showed a crudely assembled collection of electronic parts with a simple card identifying this as "Proof of Concept: Prototype for Loop Cast System, November 8, 2092 CE. Actualized by Taurus Silver, FLT."

The next image showed a simple CAD, a T-7 type FLT Sagittarius Series, with the astonishing information "First Sustained Gravity Control Flying CAD, working Prototype, July 19, 2095, CE. Programmed by Taurus Silver, FLT." To think they'd ever see the first working prototypes of the devices that literally revolutionized Modern Magic…

The third and final image caused a simultaneous gasp from all the Third and Second year students seated in the Auditorium. It was pictures of the Stellar Furnace Experiment, clearly showing Shiba Tatsuya as the coordinator, with two unbelievable sentences identifying it. "Stellar Furnace Experiment, Sustained Gravity Control Type Magic Sequences Thermonuclear Fusion Reactor, April 25, 2096 CE. Experiment designed by Taurus Silver, FLT."

While Einstein had disproved the concept of two events separated by physical distance happening simultaneously(due to the speed of light) as all the second and third years in First High School gaped in shock at the monitor as they recognized the pictures from the Stellar Furnace Experiment, several things happened at the exact same time…

Ichijou Masaki and Kichijouji Shinkurou stood up in disbelieve as they saw a picture of "him" on the monitor in Third High's Common Room. What does Shiba Tatsuya have to do with Taurus Silver…?

Angelina Kudo Shields choked on a yogurt covered pretzel at seeing a picture of Shiba Tatsuya on the monitor in her apartment. Now, had events happened even slightly differently, Shiba Tatsuya might have further changed the Military Balance of the Entire World by being responsible for the death of yet another Strategic Class magician, Angie Sirius, but fortunately a well-timed thump on back by Sylvia Mercury First averted yet another Geo-Political Military Crisis…Whack!

"What the…" exclaimed Saegusa Mayumi in stunned disbelief. This had to be a mistake of some kind… Ichihara Suzune, and Watanabe Mari, who were visiting Suzune's apartment to watch this broadcast, mirrored her expression of utter disbelief.

Human beings, when confronted with a sight that they cannot believe, experience a sensation metaphorically like tilting a pinball machine. They refuse to process any more data until a correction was made…of course, if further information provided was even more unbelievable, various and unusual noises tend to come out of their mouths…

"TATSUYA-KUN?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME! NO WAY! SHIBA IS TAURUS SILVER?! 'HE' IS TAURUS SILVER?! MY TARGET WAS TAURUS SILVER?! OUR TARGET WAS TAURUS SILVER?! BUH! UWA! GUH! " were shouted by Saegusa Mayumi, Ichihara Suzune, Watanabe Mari, Ichijou Masaki, Kichijouji Shinkurou, Angelina Kudo Shields, Sylvia Mercury First, and the entire Student Body of First Magic High School, (the three different incoherent shouts came from the Student Body of First High School) as the cutaway revealed a conference room, decorated with a prominent FLT logo, and a young man and woman dressed in the uniform of First Magic High School they all recognized instantly…

"Hello, my name is Shiba Tatsuya. I am one half of the composite individual known as Taurus Silver; I am the Magic Engineer Silver. The other half of Taurus Silver is the director here at Third Division of FLT, Mr. Ushiyama. He is Mr. Taurus. This arrangement was created not for any nefarious reasons, but simply because when I created the non-systemic magic sequence that makes Loop-Cast possible, I was 13, and when I created Generalized Gravity Controlled Flight Magic, I was 16. I was too young to sign the papers for the International Patents necessary for commercial use of the technology created by my designs. As you can see by my uniform, I am still a student at First Magic High School, but as I will be turning 18 later this month, the conditions necessary for joint signatures no longer apply."

Turning to his side, Tatsuya grinned at the sight of Shiba Miyuki holding up a simple sign that read "Dear Friends and Acquaintances, please close your mouths lest an insect fly in!" Miyuki was grinning like an urchin, with dancing, merry eyes. The Auditorium at First Magic High rang with the sound of six hundred jaws snapping shut…

"This is my cousin, fiancé, and of course part time tsukkomi (comic straight man) Shiba Miyuki." Miyuki grinned at her Tatsuya, stuck out her tongue, and put away the sign.

"I'm here to talk to you today about Magic. Much of what you all thought you knew about Magic is quite simply false…"

-To Be Continued-


	2. With current magical technology

Ok, Userunfriendly here...(I'm male, btw)

I've just rewritten chapter 2, and chopped out the bits about "fan service". If you've already read the first version I've posted, you know just how awful that part was. I'm sorry, but I simply forgot the first rules of writing comedy...what seems hilarious inside your head doesn't always work out when written...and of course, you should never be afraid to edit and revise, because there's nothing sadder than a joke that falls flat.

Now, please understand, I have written stories with even sillier and ludicrous premises and made them work. See my stories in the "House" fan fiction section...but I know from experience those kinds of stories require very careful planning from the BEGINNING which I simply didn't do in this case. Reading my post again made me realize I had written dodo. So, after a bit of scooping, I can read chapter 2 without cringing.

Don't worry, I will post additional chapters soon...and I've got an insane idea for an interlude chapter (Omake Theater style) about the ubiquitous animatronic kids game found in almost every pizza parlor in 2097...

No, not the "Whack-A-Mole" game...the "Club-A-Baby-Seal" game...trust me, I already know how make the internal logic work...and I truly love writing this kind of (so) very non-politically correct humor. :D

Thanks!

* * *

Of course, there were more people than Saegusa Mayumi, Ichihara Suzune, Watanabe Mari, Ichijou Masaki, Kichijouji Shinkurou, Angelina Kudo Shields, Sylvia Mercury First, and the Student Body of First Magic High School who had strong reactions to this broadcast, considering just how many lives were touched by Shiba Tatsuya and Miyuki in their two years as high school students…one in particular was a certain "beautiful kendo-girl" whom by circumstances had received advance knowledge of Shiba Tatsuya's goals…

Mibu Sayaka and Kirihara Takeaki were laughing as they ran into the Magic University Café they favored. They thought that because of class, they would be late for this incredibly important broadcast, and Kirihara was miming hitting Mibu with an imaginary sword, to "get more speed out of those ridiculously impractical high-heels!"

As Mibu Sayaka and Kirhara Takeaki ran into "Abracadabra" still giggling, they stopped in uttermost shock as they saw Shiba Tatsuya and Shiba Miyuki on the large monitors… the broadcast, as it was carried by a local network, had the unbelievable caption written below the two kouhai both knew…"Taurus Silver revealed to be a 17 year old High School Student! World Wide Announcement of Solving of the Second Great Puzzle of Weight Magic in this Broadcast! Please Stay Tuned!"

"-created the non-systemic magic sequence that makes Loop-Cast possible, I was 13, and when I created Generalized Gravity Controlled Flight Magic, I was 16. I was too young to sign the papers for the International Patents necessary for commercial use of the technology created by my designs. As you can see by my uniform, I am still a student at First Magic High School, but as I will be turning 18 later this month, the conditions necessary for joint signatures no longer apply."

At this point, Mibu Sayaka completely lost it. Collapsing against her boyfriend, she started giggling uncontrollably…

"hee hee heee! Ahahahah! Shiba-kun…heheehehehe! Shiba-kun…haha…even…told me what he was going to do! Hahahahhhaha!"

It took a while for Kirihara Takeaki to get an intelligible answer out of Mibu Sayaka, and unfortunately it caused him to assume a rather funny expression (as if he had swallowed a toad), which caused yet another giggle attack on Sayaka (pointing at his face), which led to Takeaki pouting (righteously denied by Takeaki, as "men don't pout!"), ending up with them both helplessly laughing at each other. They missed much of the start of this broadcast; fortunately the FLT website had a copy they could see together later…

* * *

Anyway, Back to the Broadcast:

"I'm here to talk to you today about Magic. Much of what you all thought you knew about Magic is quite simply false…excuse me, that is to say I am making an assumption as to what an individual viewer may understand or not about magic, that is to say, I am obviously uncertain about…" At this point, Miyuki silently put her right hand into Tatsuya's left hand.

While Miyuki was smiling radiantly, it was clearly apparent that Tatsuya did not enjoy being in the spotlight, and as she gently slid her hand into Tatsuya's grasp, he was able to visibly collect himself.

"Thank you, Miyuki. I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but despite my duties as a Magical Engineer to present my research to the world publically on occasion, I'm really much more comfortable in academic settings or in a laboratory." Tatsuya smiled boyishly and charmingly.

At the sight of Shiba Tatsuya smiling with such "natural" charm and the incredibly beautiful Shiba Miyuki gazing at her fiancé with such rapt worship in her eyes, the only word that would fit this wonderful image of two young people so obviously in love, and one of them revealing himself as an incredibly brilliant and world famous Magic Engineer, would be…"Perfect."

This word was said simultaneously by both Major Kazama Harunobu and Dr. Yamanaka Kousuke with broad grins. They were watching the broadcast in Major Kazama's personal quarters, at the headquarters of the 101 Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion.

* * *

Saturday, March 30, 2097 Common Era (16 days before the broadcast)

When Yotsuba Maya and Shiba Tatsuya had requested Major Kazama for an interview, in person, to discuss the "Dire Situation brought on by Jiedo Heigu", Major Kazama knew that his guess had been correct. Jiedo Heigu had been captured alive by the "task force" from the 10 Master Clans.

"Tatsuya-kun, how did you get all this? Didn't Heigu take precautions?" asked Kazama as he was handed the data chip that contained the raw footage from Jeido Heigu's "rigorous interrogation", the hard copy transcript still in his hand. He accepted that portions would be redacted to preserve Yotsuba secrets. This was the worst possible news... Benjamin Canopus was a decades old deep cover "sleeper" agent of Jiedo Heigu. He was actually Jiedo Heigu's grandson, Richard Sun's half-brother. It was Canopus who had provided the explosives used to bomb the 10MC Conference, and he had deliberately failed in his assigned mission to assassinate Jiedo Heigu before the bombing. A high ranking "Stars" commander and relative of the USNA President's Chief of Staff? When this leaked, this would bring down the Witherspoon Presidency…

"We removed his implanted suicide device. And because of his induced deadly allergy to truth drugs and hypnotics, we were forced to use…old fashioned methods." Tatsuya had originally helped modify "poisoned bees" to let Kuroba operatives, not just Kuroba Mitsugu use the Sensory Systemic Magic. It worked by inflicting pain on the target, infinitely until the heart literally gave out. It had been child's play for Tatsuya to create a variant that had a limit on the pain inflicted on the victim, for purposes other than simple assassination...

"Tatsuya, Heigu was over 90 years old…"

"Once we made it clear he wouldn't be able to escape us by dying, he eventually broke." Major Kazama looked at Tatsuya's face, hoping his pity at what his friend had to endure wouldn't show in his eyes. Physical torture was always risky, in that the subject could die, especially if they were elderly. By using Tatsuya's "Regrowth", even heart failure wouldn't stop the interrogation. Unfortunately, every time that Tatsuya had used "Regrowth" to restore Heigu's eidos back to a state before a heart attack, he must have experienced the very same torture that had induced the heart attack…in condensed form.

"Because of how we got the information, we can't use it. Damn it!" Kazama swore in frustration. Somehow, Jiedo Heigu had managed to inflict a "perfect storm" of events to destroy the Yotsuba as well as the nation of Japan. When Benjamin Canopus stands up in front of live cameras in 16 days, to declare that Jeido Heigu's attack was planned and sponsored by the USNA, public pressure to renounce the current alliance the Japanese government has with the USNA would be overwhelming. Japan could end up alone…still neighbors to the country with the largest military on the planet, one which she was still "officially" in a state of hostilities since the attempted invasion of Okinawa back in '92…

Even if public pressure failed to force the Kusanagi government to renounce the alliance with the USNA, at the next General Election the Hardliners or Humanists would take the government. At that point, when you game it out, none of the possible outcomes could be called good...no, all the outcomes Kazama could see were complete disasters…

If the Humanists won the election Japan would renounced the treaty with the USNA, obedient to their secret Great Asian Alliance masters. Immediately after signing a mutual defense treaty with the GAA, the government would enact policies and laws incredibly repressive to magicians. Those of the 100 clans that refused to toe the line would be purged. Those that resist, including the Yotsuba would be targeted by the JSDF. This would lead to civil war.

If the Hardliners won, but had to renounce the treaty, Japan might be able to hold out for a few years. However, the Great Asian Alliance, without the threat of a mutual defense treaty with the USNA, would increase provocation, eventually leading to war with the GAA.

If the Hardliners won and Japan keeps the treaty, there would be peace for a while, but the GAA would know that sooner or later they would resume hostilities. They would most likely see a preemptive strike as their only way out, leading to war. Even if they did nothing, Japan would sooner or later resume hostilities when the Hardliners thought the JSDF had an edge in military magic, or enough magicians to attack with an acceptable chance of success. Again, this would lead to war with the GAA.

In all the scenarios, Shiba Tatsuya would face his worst nightmare. Due to a secret agreement with the Kusanagi government, only the JSDF Joint Chiefs, and the senior officers of the 101 Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion knew the identity of Ooguro Ryuuya. This kept the secret of the true identity of Japan's unregistered Strategic Class Magician known only to those who absolutely had to know. If either the Humanists or the Hardliners took power, they would demand the military turn over the secret. This would mean that Tatsuya would be used as a weapon against the GAA, or he would become a weapon OF the GAA. To compel obedience, they would most likely attempt to take Miyuki hostage…

"Yotsuba-san, I can't ask this legally, as a JSDF officer, but about Canopus…"

"I agree, Major Kazama. After all, wagging tongues should be stilled. They should be in place soon."

"Thank you, Maya-sama." Kazama deeply bowed. Even if Yotsuba Maya considered this a personal favor owed to her, to be repaid in the future by him, it was worth it to silence Canopus.

"Major Kazama, we've asked you here for more than…damage control. My son and I have a plan that we request your cooperation on. This plan would change the situation we're facing completely."

Kazama merely sat quietly, waiting for Yotsuba Maya to speak.

"We have a plan to cripple the world wide Humanist movement forever, to massively prop up the Kusanagi government, to provide an incentive for the USNA to an even closer relationship with Japan, to induce the other Great Powers to seek an alliance with us, and to start a wave of economic prosperity in this country unseen since…ever. Best of all, this will be my vengeance against a world that treated me so badly…" Maya whispered the last sentence, low enough only Tatsuya caught the words.

Major Kazama sat absolutely still, shocked. This was Yotsuba Maya, she didn't say things…she never spoke without the ability to back up her words. His hands visibly trembled as he accepted the binder full of hard copy pages Tatsuya gave him…

Kazama was angered when he realized that Tatsuya's breakthrough with the Magatama relic hadn't been shared with the military first, but had to accept the reasoning that this was far more important than some "transitory strategic advantage". As he learned the full scope of this "incredibly audacious plan" to change the world forever for magicians and non-magicians, he could only sit in shock as he realized the full magnitude of Tatsuya's Accomplishments.

Kazama made the suggestion they bring in Dr. Yamanaka Kousuke, who had a secondary specialty as an expert in Propaganda and Psychological Warfare to make best use of this "weapon". Unfortunately, Dr. Yamanaka would be unable to arrive until tomorrow. They would all resume this interview later. Tatsuya excused himself, citing a previous commitment, as he could tell from the gazes and the silence that his "elders" wished a few words alone…

"My son tells me that his presence was 'declared mandatory' by Miyuki-chan, Ayako-chan, Fumiya-chan, and Shibata Kotona-chan. Apparently the girls were getting beauty treatments this morning, and after they 'generously allow' Tatsuya to buy them lunch, they'll be trying on clothes, and need him to make comments from 'the male' perspective." Maya smiled in amusement.

"Yotsuba-san, I thought that Fumiya-san's voice had already started breaking…"

"Impressive, Major. Just how extensive are your files…well, according to my son, this will be Fumiya-chan's last chance to indulge in lavish parfaits, which would be too shameful to eat in public unless he was dressed as a girl. Fufufu."

Kazama wanted very badly to ask Yotsuba Maya if Tatsuya really was her son...but knew that this would be the one question that could never be asked. As far as he was concerned, if Yotsuba Maya claimed Tatsuya for her own, and treated him like a son, that was how it was. As for Shiba Miyuki, it wasn't any of his business, and Tatsuya was a friend.

"Yotsuba-san, once we go ahead with this plan, we destroy Tatsuya-kun's usefulness as an operative to both the Yotsuba and to the JSDF…"

"But what we get is so much better, major. Tatsuya still remains the trump card of the JSDF, and you'll continue to receive the fruits of his labors in Magic technology."

"But once Tatsuya becomes center of the World's attention, don't you think his secrets will come out?"

"And that's why we must cooperate to make sure that OUR secrets stay safe."

"Yotsuba-san, why would you…I mean, we could use a stand-in…"

"Because my son, my only son will become the glory of the Yotsuba. He will stand tall and straight in the light, and he will be my answer to those who see the name of 'Yotsuba' as a mere hiss in the dark. He will have created a brand new world, in the name of the most hated and despised. He will be my vengeance on the world for all that it has inflicted on me and mine. And he will have broken the last of Dahan."

Kazama had known better than to ask, but he had to know Lady Maya's motives. He knew she was lying, but about what? Her words had the ring of truth to them. Perhaps she truly was endorsing this plan to make sure that the Yotsuba name would change from what it was…but something was off…

"Thank you so much, Maya-sama, with your permission, I will be briefing Dr. Yamanaka and of course Major-General Saeki. May I keep this?"

"Of course Major. I look forward to our discussion tomorrow. Hayama has arranged for transportation. See you soon."

* * *

After Kazama left, Yotsuba Maya indulged herself in a rare fit of contemplation. Her plan had no flaws that she could see. Regardless of whether or not Tatsuya did as she predicted, she was secure in her trump card.

Tatsuya had always known his freedom and his life depended on the threat imposed by the Great Asian Alliance to Japan. This country could never otherwise tolerate the threat he embodied, an individual capable of converting mass into energy, an individual capable of destroying the world. Once his new technology was announced, all the nations in this planet would seek to make it theirs. Japan would have its pick of alliances, strong enough to destroy the GAA…at which point, the JSDF would take action against Tatsuya and Miyuki. Their only choice to have any kind of a life would be to disappear…her weapon against the world would be armed, ready and out of reach of the Japanese Military to destroy.

Yotsuba Maya, like Shiba Miyuki possessed both heritages of the Yotsuba. Yotsuba magicians were of two types, those that possessed strong powers in mental manipulation, such as Yotsuba Miya, and those that had unrivaled powers in physical magic, such as Shiba Tatsuya. She had the unrivaled power of "Meteor Stream" and she possessed a secret mental interference magic. Her mental interference magic was almost useless, as it could only be used on one individual. Because it was so limited in its use, her uncle Yotsuba Eisaku had told Maya alone about what he had seen in her Magical Calculation Area when she was old enough to understand. But it was perfect for her plan.

"Corsican Brothers" allowed Maya to feel strong emotions experienced by Shiba Miyuki. This was how she had known of her "forbidden love". Otherwise Maya would never have thought to engage Tatsuya to Miyuki… Though the world would turn away in disgust, to Yotsuba Maya, the knowledge that Shiba Miyuki loved her brother as a woman loves a man only brought Maya joy.

The second power of "Corsican Brothers" was when Yotsuba Maya died, so would Shiba Miyuki. Like the "Corsican Brothers" from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, what one twin felt, the other did also. This was one way only, what Shiba Miyuki felt intensely, Yotsuba Maya would feel. But if either died before the other, it would trigger an irresistible suicidal impulse that would inevitably lead to the death of the surviving "brother". A power that could rebound lethally on the wielder? No wonder Yotsuba Eisaku had only told Maya what he saw…

Yotsuba Maya indulged herself in laughter in her inner sanctum, watched only by the HAR (Home Automation Robot) in her private office. As the Chinese emperors of old, she wished earnestly that as she died, her people would join her on the pyre. They had no right to live once she was gone! But she would do one better than those ancient tyrants. The whole world would be her funeral pyre! She would live a long life, knowing that as she faced the final darkness her magnificent son would light the fires that would burn up this…despicable world. And even if somehow Tatsuya could prevent himself from becoming the God of Destruction that he was born to be, his children would inherit "Decomposition". This much had been confirmed by the team of geneticists she had assembled years ago, and silenced to keep her secrets. They would not have the shackles imposed from without; they would be true demons, with a child's selfish, emotional tantrums, and the power to unmake the world itself!

Had anyone been in Yotsuba Maya's private study, they would surely have recognized the madness shading her laughter, the wild light in her eyes. But only the unseeing gaze of the HAR was there to watch a woman's descent into insanity.

* * *

Tuesday, April 15, 2097 Common Era, at the Headquarters of the 101 Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion, Major Kazama Harunobu's personal quarters, shortly before the Broadcast:

"Yamanaka, what I don't fully understand is why we had to shoot so much footage of Tatsuya-kun showing his ability as a combat magician. And really, did we have to include footage from his Junior High Legball Championship? I guess it adds interest for the interviews, but it doesn't seem…I mean, we definitely want to showcase his ability as a magical engineer, right?"

"Kazama, have you ever read a Twentieth Century author named Joseph Campbell? 'The Hero with a Thousand Faces'? The Monomyth?"

"No, of course not. You know my tastes in books."

"Yes, of course, though it is unusual to see hard copies in this day and age." Dr. Yamanaka waved his hand at the bound copies of military history, tactics, strategy, and of course magic on the bookcases in the small office. All the volumes were what one would expect of a career military officer. The only incongruities were several books on woodworking and furniture making…which was strange as Kazama, as far as he knew, had no interest in collecting or making wooden furniture...

"So anyway, the Monomyth is a concept put forth that all mythologies share a common source, that all mythic narratives as variants of one great, all-encompassing story that transcends cultures, civilizations, peoples. All of the great tales of the ancient world, all the stories of heroes and their quests are basically the same; they share enough core elements to be recognized if told to another person of a different tradition. There are striking similarities between the Ramayana (epic Hindu poem, the Journeys of Prince Rama) and the Odyssey, for example. Scholars have compared the story of Yamato Takeru (legendary hero/emperor of Yamato Dynasty), in the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki to the Arthurian legends. I could go on and on…"

"Please don't, Yamanaka-kun." Despite being an old Academy drinking buddy, and by military tradition the only subordinate he could unburden himself with, (as the Unit's Senior Physician) Yamanaka was also known for excessively enjoying the sound of his own voice. (and for spraying the room with spittle when he talked excitedly, but let's not mention that)

"The point I'm trying to make is that we have the potential to create a narrative…tell me if this sounds familiar. A boy is born into the family of the Demon Queen, the strongest Magician in the world. Because he is low ranked in magic, he is not acknowledged as belonging to the Royal Family. He is instead trained in the path of the warrior mage, as a humble retainer. However, he becomes so skilled, and so capable that he is given the highest duty that exists in the Court of the Demon Queen, bodyguard to the precious Princess of Ice and Snow, his sister. He keeps training, gaining in wisdom and martial arts, and even though he has already won the greatest honor a warrior mage can aspire to in the Court of the Demon Queen, he aspires to become more. He then takes on the greatest challenge of all…the secrets of Magic itself! After a great trial, he is able to grasp the secrets of giving the gift of Magic to all of Mankind, and he humbly presents this immense, golden…excuse me, this Silver gift to his Queen. As reward, the Demon Queen lifts the spell, revealing that the Princess and he are merely cousins, and grants her hand to this Golden Youth…excuse me, Silver Youth, as the supreme reward." Yamanaka sat back with a pleased expression. Then he sat up straight with a thought…

"I say, Kazama, is it too late to change 'Taurus Silver' to 'Taurus Gold'? After all, gold is more precious than silver…it would sound better…"

Kazama looked at Dr. Yamanaka in astonishment, and guffawed.

"Just a few years too late. But let me see if I'm getting you. You basically want to create a…myth? Isn't that just a bit too old fashioned in this day and age?"

"No, not really. Just because this is the twenty first century doesn't mean that people still don't crave stories of heroes, overcoming huge obstacles to attain impossible victories, and beautiful princesses. They've just…re-branded them. Sports, Movies, and even…manga."

"MANGA?! So you're setting up Tatsuya-kun as the hero of a shounen manga (boy's manga)?!"

"Urm…not so much. No, what we're trying to do here is to make Tatsuya-kun…seem extraordinary, a legendary figure, larger than life…surely the major is aware of the advantages of being seen as a living legend, Dai Tengu-san? (Great guardian mountain/forest demon)" Yamanaka smirked. He knew how much Kazama hated his nickname, given to Kazama during the Vietnamese Conflict.

"I see… it may be wise to never release the footage of Tatsuya-kun's first rehearsals…" At this, both men smiled wryly.

* * *

Last week, when the first rehearsals for the broadcast were being shot, Tatsuya was…a little stiff. Despite being instructed to talk about his discoveries "not as if you're giving a military briefing!" this seemed to be something that Shiba Tatsuya had great difficulty with. In spite of operational security, a PR firm had been hired to "coach" Tatsuya. Not even the legendary ability of Shimada "Mayushi" Mayu, Green Leaves Entertainment former client and current head of "Dealing with the Hopeless" Public Relations Coach, had been up initially to the task of dealing with BOTH Shiba Tatsuya and Shiba Miyuki.

Between Tatsuya's inability to "be charming to the camera", Miyuki could be…even worse.

"Don't you think that you could shoot it so that Tatsuya-sama looks more dashing?"

"No, the lighting makes him look pale; I think we should emphasize Tatsuya-sama's rugged good looks."

"Seriously, don't you think that this sports drink is too sweet? Tatsuya-sama prefers a bit more acid in his beverages."

"Please turn up the heat a bit more; Tatsuya-sama mustn't catch a cold!"

Shimada-san found Shiba Tatsuya equally vexing.

"So the easiest and simplest way to explain Transformational Magic is to use this simple equation in Tensor Calculus…"

"Denied! Shiba-kun, your audiences are not mathematicians!"

"Shimada-san, I can't explain it properly without using…"

"Denied! Shiba-kun, please explain it using Japanese!"

"I am using Japanese! Transformational Magic is matching the surface area of the targeted phenomena, in this case the expanding shockwave of a heavy hydrogen chain reaction with a carefully tailored Magic Sequence such that the magical event wave "overlaps" the target phenomena with above 93% congruency! Because we're talking about geometry that change over time, the only way to describe it is to use calculus!"

"Shiba-kun, are you trying to kill me?! Don't answer that! Shiba-kun, we're trying to explain the importance of your discoveries to housewives, salarymen, and kids! Imagine…imagine you're explaining things to your fiancé…"

"Fortunately Miyuki has a good grounding in calculus and theoretical physics…"

"SHIBA-KUN!"

Shimada-san might have lost it at that point, fortunately she saw Miyuki hiding a grin…and Tatsuya had a tiny smirk on his face, and she finally realized that Tatsuya was using her as his "play-toy" to try to ease Miyuki's nervousness…

The problem was that while Shiba Miyuki had been trained as an ojou-sama, a young lady able to attend any social function with style and grace, aware that her beauty would inevitably be the center of attention, AND trained to deal with it, Shiba Tatsuya completely lacked those skills. With only a bit of training, Shiba Miyuki could do this broadcast, no question. She was photogenic, and with her help, she would have no problem "making love" to the camera. Miyuki was potentially "star" material, charismatic and attractive…whereas Shiba Tatsuya was simply not. And because it was SHIBA TATSUYA'S discoveries and achievements that were to be broadcasted, Miyuki was becoming more and more nervous for the sake of her fiancé…as Tatsuya-san…hated the situation more and more? And Tatsuya expressed his hatred for the situation by becoming more and more wooden in his performance and more and more concerned about Miyuki as the situation continued to deteriorate. As the first day's rehearsals went on and on, without a single satisfactory performance by Tatsuya, Miyuki's obvious distress over her beloved increased, and Tatsuya was becoming even more frantic over Miyuki's anxiety over Tatsuya's performance…gah! This sucked!

Shimada decided to try something that at first glance seemed to be doomed…She decided to put both Tatsuya and Miyuki on camera. When Tatsuya-san was explaining things off camera, or in his interactions with his fiancé, he could be charming, and his obvious enthusiasm for the technology he invented was…captivating. His embarrassment at presenting his ideas to the camera showed, which was perfect…it was completely and utterly endearing. Shimada's task was to "brand" Shiba Tatsuya, and the best fit was for a brilliant and charming YOUNG super-genius. This public "personality" that could be accepted by the world was a combination of the "youthful warrior" persona given off by the USNA…excuse me, former USA President John Fitzgerald Kennedy in his first presidential campaign, and the "socially inept but brilliant" charming awkwardness of Albert Einstein's first public appearances. If she could pull this off, this "public persona" Shimada was helping Tatsuya create would fascinate the whole world…crossing both fingers and toes, Shimada Mayu decided to bite the bullet and asked Shiba Miyuki to join her husband to be on camera…

* * *

Once Again, Back to the Broadcast:

"But despite my duties as a Magical Engineer to present my research to the world publically on occasion, I'm really much more comfortable in academic settings or in a laboratory."

Shimada Mayu leaned back on her sofa, and with a glass of wine in her hand, watched the broadcast. Everyone in Green Leaves Entertainment had been under "house arrest" until literally a few minutes ago, kept under lock and key by expressionless and incredibly intimidating 10 MC operatives. Now that the broadcast was being aired, the communications blackout was lifted, and while her coworkers were checking personal terminals and catching up on their lives from their "week in prison", she was watching her two protégés charm the whole world…

"Perfect." Said Shimada Mayu, echoing the sentiment expressed by both Major Kazama Harunobu and Dr. Yamanaka Kousuke.

"Ok, then, the first 'misconception' that most of you have is that the Second Great Problem of Weight Magic is that of actualizing a Gravity Controlled Thermonuclear Fusion Reactor. Simply not true." Tatsuya grinned at the camera. With Miyuki right next to him, his anxiety didn't reach critical levels, causing his "emotional limiter" to trigger, turning his voice emotionless, and after Shimada-san's extensive coaching, he was able to accept that visible awkwardness was ok…it made him more "approachable". Tatsuya could now let his natural enthusiasm for the topic show…Miyuki could see the same shining eyes as she had seen before, just like all those years ago back in Okinawa, when the then Lieutenant Sanada Shigeru had shown the 13 year old Shiba Tatsuya some Specialized CADs he was developing…

"Originally, among Magic Researchers, the goal was simply the actualization of a Thermonuclear Fusion Reactor. Initial designs were for using Electromagnetic Magic; however, this approach was abandoned due to complexity. Because the magic necessary to reduce Coulomb force was discovered over a decade ago, and been continuously refined and improved since then, the technical challenge of creating a working Fusion Reactor has been reclassified as "Gravity Magic". You see, Coulomb force, which prevents deuterium from 'fusing' was originally seen as the greatest hurdle."

The monitor behind Tatsuya changed from the FLT logo to show a representation of two atoms of "Deuterium", or heavy hydrogen with the electron "Shell" surrounding the single Neutron and Proton. The diagram changed to show the electron "Shell" being removed by an arrow labeled "Coulomb Force Reduction Magic" and the two deuterium atoms collided…arrows labeled "Gamma Radiation" and "Neutron Radiation" flew away from the "Fusion Event". The arrows struck the side of the "Containment Vessel" and a rather alarming label "Neutron Bombardment causes Slow Disintegration of Containment Vessal" appeared…

"Once the problem of actualizing Coulomb Force Reduction Magic was overcome, the biggest hurdle toward actually making a commercially viable Fusion Reactor is Containment Vessel Degradation. Under continuous bombardment from Neutrons created in a Heavy hydrogen Reaction, which provides the greatest energy per unit of fuel, the 'Containment' vessel starts to disintegrate. This is bad for running a power plant. So the idea was to create a 'Containment' vessel using Gravity Control Magic made of water. Hence, it became the 'Second Great Puzzle of Gravity Magic.'"

The diagram changed to show the "Containment Vessel" filled with water…arrows showed that the water was pulled back from the center with "Gravity Control Magic" and the "Fusion Event" happened inside a "shell" of water…

"This approach is excellent for preventing the loss of the 'Containment Vessel' and this was the approach used by my 'Stellar Furnace' experiment last year; however it does have its disadvantages. For one thing, you have to use a mixture of 'Heavy' and 'Light' water, this mixture not only serving as the 'Fuel' but also as 'Containment Vessel'. This mixture is heated by Fusion, which THEN heats a 'Coolant', typically distilled water, which THEN turns a turbine, to generate electricity."

The diagram changed to show pipes labeled "Coolant" running through the "Containment Vessel", and the pipes going to a box labeled "Steam Turbines connected to Electric Generators".

"Now, as an engineer, this setup is inefficient, as energy that could be used to generate electricity is being wasted transferring from one superheated liquid, the mixture of Heavy and Light water, to the 'Coolant' which does the actual work of turning the electric generators. We naturally wanted something more efficient…"

The diagram changed to show a "Containment Vessel" filled with "Filtered Seawater", and a thin tube leading to the center labeled "Convergence and Movement Magic used to 'pipe' pure Deuterium Fuel to the Center of Containment Vessel".

"We had two objectives designing the Pulse based Compound Magic Thermonuclear Fusion Reactor. We wanted a system that was cheap to construct, so that it makes sense economically for countries to replace existing solar-cell power-farms with our Fusion Reactors. We wanted a high degree of efficiency, so fuel consumption was reduced, allowing power companies to sell electricity cheaply, yet still make a good profit. Sounds impossible? This was why we went with a pulse system. Deuterium is 'piped' to the center of a 'Containment Vessel' filled with plain, ordinary seawater. Why seawater? Because after the super-heated steam from the seawater is used to generate electricity, we can condense the steam to make distilled water. This type of Fusion Reactor makes THOUSANDS of liters of distilled water, easily made suitable for agriculture or industrial use, not to mention potable water for human consumption, per SECONDS of operation. That really is elegant…making electricity, and making huge amounts of distilled water while you're generating the kilowatt hours."

Arrows labeled "Coulomb Force Reduction Magic" and "Compression Magic" surrounding the center of the "Containment Vessel" animated to show a small explosion labeled "Fusion Event"…

"We use Convergence and Movement Magic to transport deuterium to the center of the reactor, filled with seawater. We use Coulomb Force Reduction Magic and Compression Magic to generate a tiny thermonuclear 'Event', which produces Gamma Radiation and Neutrons. We use Dispersion Magic to transform the Gamma 'Flash' and Neutron 'Flash' into heat, which of course also prevents the creation of secondary radioactive isotopes…that produces the steam to generate electricity with, and to be collected after use to become distilled water, which is another product that will be sold by our Thermonuclear Reactors. Ideally, we'll execute this sequence several times a minute, hence a 'Pulse' type Thermonuclear Reactor."

The diagram showed lines surrounding the "Fusion Event" labeled "Dispersion Magic", which produced a large amount of "Steam"…

"Now Magic Researchers who are watching will say that it is impossible to produce a "Dispersion Magic" field strong enough to 'disperse' the radiation of a small thermonuclear 'event'…and they'd be right. However we can make this work using the theory of 'Controlling Phenomena after Creation'…or FAE for short."

The diagram showed "Free After Execution used to create a powerful Dispersion Magic Field".

"FAE, or Free After Execution tells us that after a Magic finishes altering phenomena, there is less than millisecond of delay before the laws of Physics re-exerts itself. For example, say I use lifting magic to lift this egg. Once the magic completes, there is about a millisecond's 'window' during which if I can execute a second magic, to once again lift this egg, it will require far less interference power, to repeat the same effect."

As the suspended egg spun in midair without support, Tatsuya smiled in genuine and honest appreciation for the unknown Magic Pioneers in the USNA who had created Brionac…which had taken FAE out of theory into practical, commercially useful reality.

Now the monitor showed a blinking box labeled "Free After Execution-Do you wish to Learn More?" Home viewers could tap the button on their remotes to open up a webpage containing more details, to be studied in their leisure.

"And this was why we went with a pulse system. We use convergence and move magic to push fuel to the center of the Containment Vessel, surrounded by seawater. Immediately after the convergence and movement magic completes, we execute, under a millisecond, inside the FAE 'window', a compression magic to compress in the drop of deuterium fuel, and Coulomb Reduction magic to initiate a heavy hydrogen chain reaction. Because the SECOND magic executes under a millisecond after the first magic completes, before the laws of Physics re-exerts itself, it has about 8 times the interference strength for the same magic ritual."

The diagrams on the display in the camera's field of view showed the "Fuel" being moved inside the "Containment Vessel" by "Convergence and Movement Magic". "Convergence and Movement Magic" blinked, and the words were replaced by "Compression and Coulomb Force Reduction Magic" but in bigger and bolder font. This was to show how the second spell, utilizing FAE Theory, was amplified in power.

"But we're not through. We execute a THIRD FAE magic immediately after the 'Compression and Coulomb Force Reduction Magic' completes, this time 'Dispersion Magic', to turn the Gamma 'flash' and Neutron 'flash' into useful heat energy. This will also prevent the creation of Sodium-24 which is radioactive and would normally be the most troubling byproduct of using filtered seawater."

"Convergence and Movement Magic" flashed and turned into "Compression and Coulomb Force Reduction Magic" (in bigger and bolder font) which then flashed once again into "Dispersion Magic". (same font and size, to show that this effect isn't increased with repetition)

Now the diagram showed "Deuterium Fuel" being injected, "FAE Compression and Coulomb Force Reduction" generate a small "Fusion Event" and then a second "FAE Dispersal Magic" turning the seawater in the "Containment Vessel" into steam.

"Now we're missing only one thing. For those of you who are Magic Researchers, hold on to your seats, we got Transformational Magic to work." As Tatsuya smiled in sincere appreciation for all the work put together by his "people" in the Third Division of FLT, a number of Magic Researchers who were riveted to their monitors felt complete disbelief…

"NO WAY! TRANSFORMATIONAL MAGIC!" A-Chan exclaimed, to the surprise of Miyumi, Suzune and Mari. A-Chan, or Nakajou Azusa, had snuck in while they had been watching…

"Transformational Magic is something that had been theorized for years and proven experimentally, but no one could make it work in a practical sense. You see, according to the theory of Systemic Magic, one can take phenomena from one Major Type, and convert it into the other Major type in the SAME Great System. For example, under the Systemic Movement and Oscillation Great System, there is a magic called 'Hale Particles'. 'Hale Particles' magic uses Convergence Magic to gather CO2 out of the atmosphere, and then uses the Major Type Oscillation to freeze the CO2. It then uses Movement Type Magic, which is the other half of the Great System Oscillation/Movement to propel the resulting projectile."

The display behind Tatsuya was now a diagram of the "Four Great Systems" and "Eight Major Types". "Speed/Mass", "Convergence/Dispersion", "Absorb/Release" and "Oscillation/Movement" could be seen.

"Now then, 'Hale Particles' use Oscillation Magic to freeze the CO2, and Movement Magic to propel it. It has one peculiarity. If the day is warm, the ambient heat from the surroundings will naturally try to melt the frozen CO2. This causes the 'Hale Particles' to SPEED UP! Somehow, in direct contravention of the Third Law of Thermodynamics, the Entropy, or heat in the surrounding air, is REDUCED, and 'Transforms' into Movement. Please note that this can only happen going from one 'Major Type' to the corresponding 'Major Type' within the SAME 'Great System'. In the case described, it is happening to the Oscillation/Movement family."

The diagram showed "Heat" surrounding the "Hale Particle" and as each "Heat" touched the "Hale Particle" it become "Movement".

"As a magic engineer, we've all thought that if we could use this on existing phenomena, we can make power plants and engines more efficient. For example, we know that internal combustion motors, burning hydrocarbons, are from an engineering perspective, enormously inefficient. Most of the heat energy created by compressing and igniting the fuel is wasted, not used to generate work. But if we could somehow use Transformational Magic to convert part of the heat into Movement, we could add Movement to the piston, getting more work out of the same amount of hydrocarbon fuel."

The diagram now showed a representation of a piston type internal combustion engine. As the diagram animated, it showed an explosion inside the cylinder, and arrows of "Wasted Heat" flying out of the "engine". Now as "Transformational Magic" appeared inside the cylinder, this time less "Wasted Heat" came out of the engine, but the piston was enhanced with "Wasted Heat Transformed into Movement" increasing the number of strokes of the cylinder.

"The problem with using this type of 'cheat' to increase efficiency is that the phenomena we're extracting energy from, has to be created by magic. It has been theorized that if we could match the geometry of a dynamic phenomenon precisely, with the correct Transformational Magic, we don't need to create the initial phenomena using magic. For example, let's say we're trying to extract Movement out of a candle flame. If we could 'program' the magic so when it executes, the 'effective field' of the phenomena alteration matches the geometric shape of the candle flame, it should work."

The display showed footage of a real candle burning. Then a red colored circle flashed, covering the flame, and it showed "Transformation Magic-Match 37%". The red colored circle flashed again, this time it was elongated, more and more flame shaped. "Transformational Magic-Match 53%". Every time the red colored "circle" flashed again, it shaped itself closer and closer to the flame, until "Transformational Magic-Match 93%" appeared, and the logo "Transformational Magic-SUCCESS!" appeared.

"This is very hard to do outside of an experiment. We've been able to make it work inside the laboratory, but we have a problem making it work in real life. That's because while high speed photography does exist, so we can see a dynamic phenomenon, like a candle flame at tens of thousands of frames per second, Kirilian Photography, which is how we see magic phenomena, is limited to about 300-500 frames per second. Very difficult to synchronize the magic when you can't see the magic as it is happening FAST enough..."

The display behind the seated Shiba Tatsuya now displayed a photo of two researchers, a young man and woman, in their white lab coats.

* * *

The Third Division of Research at FLT, known internally as "the Silver Taurus Division" has been described as "rebels and renegades" and were composed of the "surplus" employees of the technical department. What exactly does this mean? One only has to look at director Ushiyama, who still wore his Mechanic's overalls at work. Ushiyama had never hid the fact that to complete his graduate studies in Computer Engineering he had to work as an electric car mechanic, and insisted on wearing his overalls to remind people that "no matter how brilliant the theory or technology, if people can't use it as easily as they would drive a car, it was worthless." That and his trademark afro should be all the clues you need to tell you what kind of a person the Director of the Third Division was.

The rest of the Third Division, were those former Technical Department employees who were deemed "surplus" to their original departments and had been chosen to join a new division, created for the purposes of supporting a 13 year old "genius" in his work. The directors of the First and Second Research Division at FLT were handpicked by the then Vice President in Charge of Research Shiba Tatsurou, and they had taken the opportunity to remove their personal "eyesores" among their researchers. Unfortunately for the directors of the First and Second research divisions, those "eyesores" were the most creative among the FLT magic researchers. "Hoisted on their own petards" might be a rude but accurate assessment of the situation for the directors of the First and Second Research Divisions. Of course, the one really responsible was Shiba Tatsurou, who had chosen his directors based on their business acumen, and a proven ability to "stay in budget, and always mindful of profitability". They really had no business (joke intended) running a RESEARCH laboratory. As the director of Second division watched with a sick feeling in his stomach, the two annoyingly Otaku researchers he had leapt at discarding had their photos broadcast to the entire world…

This of course was not to say that the personnel in the Third Division were easy to manage. Ushiyama had to give Tomoe extra time off to move his "Sailor Moon Crystal" figurines to a storage locker before his ever increasing collection took over his apartment, and Kitsuuyu's OCD required monthly visits to a dermatologist to treat her blistered hands due to her compulsive hand washing (she tended to forget to take her medication when she was "in hot pursuit of an idea"), and the dress code was relaxed at the Third division, "as long as you button up your lab coats, what you wear underneath is your own business." But they delivered. Shiba Tatsuya was after all only one person, and no matter how brilliant of a Magic Engineer he was, Tatsuya needed the Third division to make his ideas into reality. And he certainly wasn't the only creative mind in FLT's Third Research Division…

* * *

"This is Masters Candidate Ozora Mirai and Doctoral Candidate Ozora Hiroshi in this photograph. They're siblings, and they both work in the Third division at FLT. About two years ago, they came to me and Director Ushiyama with a proposal. Now, let's review how a Kirilian camera and a magician can see magical phenomena. When a magician alters a target eidos in the information dimension, which by definition IS magic, it generates psions as a byproduct of the event. Those psions manifest itself in the observable universe. A magician can see the resulting psion 'flash' because his or her Magic Calculation Area 'translates' the psions as something the mind can perceives as an image. A Kirilian video camera has a special type of induction stone built into its imager, or the 'eye' if you will of the video camera. An induction stone translates psions into electrical signals and of course, vice versa. Using the 'translated' electrical signals, the processor of the Kirilian video camera generates a visual image that a non-magician can see. As I mentioned, this is limited to about 500 frames a second, which is useful for most purposes, but we're simply unable to see very high speed magic phenomena, which has always been an obstacle in magic research. At over 500 frames a second, the photographs we get have so much visual artifacts that they're basically useless. The Ozoras came to me and Ushiyama with a proposal for a completely new way to observe magic phenomena. They thought that by using a special induction stone material, a low cost, low latency material developed for psion imaging applications, rather than for CADs, we might be able to get better results. This new induction stone material was only developed a few years ago, for the purposes of law enforcement, to be used as the imager in the psion detectors we see in most large metropolitan areas, and we thought this would be a perfect test of this new technology. We authorized a budget for this new project, and after a few months, we had a prototype. It failed miserably." Tatsuya smiled in memory, and took a sip of his tea.

"Naturally this didn't deter Ozora Mirai and Ozora Hiroshi at all. They speculated that the minuscule magnetic fields of the electronics in the new type of imager we developed were interfering with the conversion of psions into the electrical signals with the new type of induction stone. I did mention that induction stones converted psions into electrical signals and vice versa didn't I? We know, because of experiments that psions, even though they don't fit the Standard Model (the currently accepted model of Modern Physics)as either fermions (matter) or bosons (force)that psions can be influenced by magnetic fields. This is in fact how a standard Kirilian camera works, by focusing, using magnetic fields, psions into the imager. Well, to cut a long story short, we ended up going completely old school. The Ozoras ended up designing a molecule thick layer of the new type of induction stone material, backed on to a molecule thick layer of an electrically powered bioluminescent material. This gave us an imager that did not use any electronics at all, but relied on electro-chemistry. As an artificial 'neuron' in the induction stone material receives a psion, it will 'flash' an electroluminescent area on the backing. This gave us an image that we could photograph at high speed from the back of our psion imager. And for the 'lens' we threw away the normal psion image focusing system of concentric magnetic fields and using a simple aperture in a psion opaque material. The other possible reason for the artifacts in the images we were getting was imperfections in the symmetry of the magnetic fields that acted as the 'lens' in Kirilian cameras. After spending hundreds of thousands of yen, we invented a psion version of the Pinhole Camera." At this statement, Shiba Tatsuya actually grinned wickedly…

* * *

For a long time, among magic researchers and engineers it was believed that the biggest hurdles in high speed imaging of magical events was due to induction stone latency and electromagnetic/magnetic distortions in the psion "lens" assembly. Modern induction stones were synthetic neurons analogous to the "cerebellum" portion of the brain. Because these "generalized" neurons handled everything from visual processing, to cognition, like the difference between "generalized" CADs and "specialized" CADs, it was slower while being useful for more applications. The new induction stone material was analogous to the primitive areas of the brain, which didn't "process" psion information, reduced this natural latency significantly. The other hurdle, long thought to be impossible to overcome, was the fact that ALL Kirilian imaging systems HAD to use magnetic fields to focus the psion "flash" into the imager. Even in the laboratory, it was almost impossible to generate a perfectly shaped and symmetrical magnetic field, to focus psions into the imager of a Kirilian camera without errors. While this wasn't a problem at 500 frames a second, at tens of thousands of frames a second, it became significant, and rendered footage useless for research purposes. Despite the tens of millions of dollars spent by Maximilian Industries in trying to develop distortion free magnetic field generators, success was still elusive. It was typical of "Taurus Silver's" trademark innovative way of thinking that he reversed the question, and succeeded where Maximilian's outrageous research budget had failed so embarrassingly. The "pinhole" of a "pinhole camera" was about as primitive of an optical device could be.(it predates the invention of glass lenses by THOUSANDS of years) By avoiding the entire issue of using a magnetic field to "focus" psions, Taurus Silver had succeeded where the ENTIRE research division of Maximilian had failed. Professor Michael Amagi, head of advanced magic research in Maximilian, known to colleagues as "Dr. Machinegal" for his work on Combat Servitors decades ago, resisted the impulse to do a facepalm or just bang his head against the table repeatedly…

* * *

"The Pinhole Camera or Camera Obscura has been known since antiquity; in fact written up in the Codex Atlanticus by Leonardo Da Vinci. It is one of the ancestors of the ancient film based camera, which of course is the ancestor of the modern digital camera. Despite the fact we're using technology this ancient; our version of a high-speed Kirilian photography system is able to do something that no other device can do in the world. We can see magical phenomena at thousands, tens of thousands of frames per second." The display behind Shiba Tatsuya displayed the schematics of what a historian would recognize as a pin-hole camera, with the identification of "Pinhole Camera/Camera Obscura Device". It simply consisted of a simple box, the pinhole acting as a "lens" that displayed an upside down image of a candle that served as the target, projected on a piece of paper at the back of the device.

"This technology still has very real limitations, for example, we can only image very strong magic phenomena because a pinhole is highly inefficient in 'imaging'. Only very 'bright' psion events yield useful results. Finally, because of the nature of the 'pinhole', which uses the rectilinear propagation of light or in this case psions, we have to build it big to make this technology useful. Our current model is about the size of an auditorium. Naturally, as we improve and refine the technology, we expect to be able to use this technology to image a greater range of magical phenomena, and make this technology more useful to our research. But we have results now, and here you can see for the first time see Neutron Blocking or Dispersion magic at 9,000 frames per second…"

As the entire world watched in fascination, the display changed to a black screen. A single bright point of light appeared, which rapidly grew into a sphere, and then morphed into a series of incredibly complex and quite simply beautiful geometric shapes…

"…and one of the reasons FLT has always been the world leader in the design and manufacture of CADs and other magical equipment is due to our commitment to original magic research. The other reason obviously is the hard work, dedication and the brilliance of our magical researchers. Without them, my identity as 'Silver' would mean nothing."

* * *

As Tatsuya spoke honestly and gratefully about how he depended on the hard work of his staff, a number of people had already begun think about the "implications". While far less well known than the Three Great Puzzles of Weight Magic, high speed Kirilian photography was a breathtaking achievement in the Magical Research community. They had no way of realizing that the entire reason Tatsuya had disclosed FLT's breakthroughs in high speed Kirilian photography (which was staggering enough) to simply reduce the disbelief as he announced the REAL breakthrough in just a few minutes…

The directors of the First and Second division at FLT whom had followed Shiba Tatsurou's directives on cutting back on "expensive and unnecessary research" which "wastes money and diverts us from our core business" felt like throwing up.

Professor Michael Amagi, Chief Researcher for the Advanced Magic Research division at Maximilian, knew, just knew that after this broadcast, he and other Chief Researchers and division heads would be summoned to David Morrow's office. As before, when Taurus Silver had released Generalized Flight Magic, David would have a number of biting comments and insults for his Department Heads. As the principles of Generalized Flight magic are simple enough for even the "suits" to understand, management had a number of questions two years ago… "Why if this stuff is so simple to understand, didn't YOU idiots invent it!? WHY ARE WE PAYING YOU SO MUCH WHEN YOU KEEP SCREWING UP SO BADLY?!" Management is NOT going to like the fact that Maximilian spent millions on magnetic field technology when Taurus Silver had poked a hole in a cardboard box…

Ernest Rozen was still laughing. It felt so GOOD when the shoe was on the other foot… Rozen had been considered the prime contenders to solve the First Great Puzzle a few years ago. Their spectacular failure in their attempts to make "Post-Event Zone Interference" work had been pathetic…Taurus Silver during his FRESHMAN year in high school had succeeded where their top scientists hadn't… Now that 17 year old kid had succeeded on a shoestring where Maximilian, with their grotesque project budgets had failed. Amagi must be chewing bricks right now…And wouldn't Morrow be PISSED?! Ernest Rozen's stomach hurt from laughing too hard.

Rozen, like Maximilian, was started by a brilliant magic engineer and scientist, "Mutti" (mother) Heidi Rozen. However, unlike Maximilian who had sold the company after the death of the brilliant Geoff Maximilian, to the "Wellmart" corporation, Rozen Magicraft was still run by "Mutti" Rozen and her children and grandchildren. (of course, minus one "Anna Rozen Katori" whose name was still not mentioned in his mother's house.) It must have been disappointing to "Mutti" when her daughters and son had failed to inherit their mother's genius in magic technology, and ended up working the "business" side of her company, but at least it was kept in the family. Certainly the second and third generation had Rozens with the inclination to follow the engineering track. Part of Ernest Rozen's mission in Japan was not only to explore reconciliation with Erika Chiba, whom "Mutti" earnestly desired to meet, but to cement closer ties to FLT, which like Rozen was founded by a single genius developer. (though FLT had existed before Taurus Silver, it had been seen at best as an average level supplier of parts for CADs prior to Taurus Silver's release of Loop-Cast) Heidi Rozen had felt that Taurus Silver was a kindred soul, a fellow scientist and magic engineer, and wanted to develop a closer tie to the person she felt was a peer…unlike Maximilian, with whom she had cut personal contact with after the death of her friend Geoff Maximilian. "Mutti" Rozen was in her nineties now, most of her contemporaries, friends and rivals had passed away. She was lonely. As mentioned, she considered Taurus Silver to be a peer…unlike Amagi, whom "Mutti" despised as a bootlicking scrote… she had hoped to become a "mentor" for Taurus Silver. Heidi Rozen had revolutionized the Magic world half a century ago, as the genius biochemist and magic engineer who invented Specialized CADs. Now, nearing the end of her long life, widowed for nearly 20 years, she wanted to see the future entrusted to individuals she considered worthy, not to those like that jackass Amagi, who cared more about "politics" than science.

Ernest Rozen contemplated his mother's probable reactions to the fact that Taurus Silver had been revealed as a 17 year old high school student…and not just any high school student, no, but the acknowledged son of the "Demon Lord of the East", Yotsuba Maya. There was still a possibility that Shiba Tatsuya was NOT Taurus Silver, and this was a ploy of some sort…no, that was just too simple to disprove. The kind of innovative and unique genius that was Taurus Silver was impossible to counterfeit…a few simple questions to test the unique powers of someone widely acknowledged to be one of the best magic researchers in the world. Ernest Rozen started typing, asking his research staff at Rozen Magicraft, Japan for questions with which to test "Taurus Silver" given the opportunity…

* * *

"…of course, this is simply about efficiency. This 'pulse' based design for a Thermal Nuclear reactor uses magic to enhance the efficiency of power extraction from the heavy hydrogen reaction. We use dispersion magic to extract useful thermal energy from the electromagnetic emissions of our 'fusion event'; we're using the Transformational magic to extract the energy from the concussion wave. You see, as mentioned the 'fusion event' is a small, thermal nuclear explosion, inside a liquid medium. There are engineering solutions to dissipate the shockwave and convert that into heat to increase the steam production, but using Transformational magic brings up our reactor design to approximately 80% efficiency per cost of a unit of fuel. In contrast to this proposed design, it has been estimated, due to the extremely high output of the heavy hydrogen reaction, that commercially profitable fusion reactor designs need only 15% efficiency. The rest is incentive for companies worldwide to use our design, as the initial investment could be paid off very quickly, possibly in less than a single year, allowing power companies to sell power and of course desalinated seawater at low cost and high profit. Unfortunately, there is just one little problem with our design."

Shiba Tatsuya looked straight at the camera. "The problem with actualizing this proposed design for a Pulse Based Compound Magic Thermal Nuclear Fusion reactor is the limitations on the magicians necessary to make this work. The Neutron dispersion magic, for example, is monolithic, in that we can't separate the magic into multiple parts, and so we can't reduce the number of steps in the magic below 58 processes. For those of you unfamiliar with magic, processes, or steps are the components that constitute a magic. For example, in order to move this egg intact from my hand to the table requires four steps, or processes. We need Increase Speed (Acceleration), Movement, Reduce Speed (Reverse Acceleration), and Stop (end of movement). But dispersion magic alone constitutes almost sixty steps, and no matter how we tried, we couldn't reduce the number of steps. I am engaged to one of the most capable A-class magicians in Japan, Shiba Miyuki, and so I know that her limit is about 30 steps. 58 Steps are beyond the capability of any known magician." As Shiba Tatsuya held Miyuki's hand, he bowed his head and looked sorrowful.

"We were forced to conclude that with current magical technology, there was absolutely no way to complete our design for a commercially viable Pulse-Based Compound Magic Thermonuclear Reactor. It just can't be done, with the limitations imposed by the capability of the magicians who are necessary to invoke the magic and control the processes necessary to make our vision come true. At this point, we gave up." At this admission, Michael Amagi sighed in relief, Ernest Rozen felt disappointment, and the directors of First and Second Research Division at FLT looked up from their misery. The "Kid" had failed? YES!

* * *

As Saegusa Mayumi, Ichihara Suzune, Watanabe Mari, Ichijou Masaki, Kichijouji Shinkurou, Angelina Kudo Shields, Sylvia Mercury First, and the Student Body of First Magic High School looked on in sympathy, Shiba Tatsuya bowed at the camera, as if to apologize for wasting their time. He then raised his head, and to the surprise of everyone watching, he had a smile on his face…

"Please note, I had mentioned with 'current magical technology'. So, we created a completely new type of magic technology." "EH?!" thought everyone watching…

Shiba Tatsuya pulled out the silver octagonal box with the FLT logo on the front and showed it to the camera.

"This is a Non-linear-Logic Lattice-based External-psion Magic Sequence ROM. This device stores and plays back MAGIC SEQUENCES." With these simple words, Shiba Tatsuya dropped his world shaking bombshell…

* * *

Michael Amagi screamed as his jaw dropped open in shock with so much force he dislocated it… Ernest Rozen tried to simultaneously lean forward to get a better view and to stand up so he could walk closer to the monitor in his office…predictably, he slid off his seat and landed on the carpet of his office with a "thump!" The directors of the First and Second Research Divisions at FLT screeched as the "Kid" announced he had solved the Greatest Puzzle in Modern Magic… Mibu Sayaka and Kirihara Takeaki, like everyone else in "Abracadabra" had dazed looks on their faces as Taurus Silver, their kouhai, revealed to the world the greatest breakthrough in magic since…since…EVER…

"Are you KIDDING ME!" were shouted by Saegusa Mayumi, Ichihara Suzune, Watanabe Mari, Ichijou Masaki, Kichijouji Shinkurou, Angelina Kudo Shields, Sylvia Mercury First as they watched in COMPLETE surprise…they were even more surprised than when they had found out Shiba Tatsuya was Taurus Silver…something they would have sworn a few minutes ago could NOT possibly happen…

The entire student body of First Magic High School looked at with eyes bugged out in complete disbelief to the form of Shiba Tatsuya on the monitor holding that octagonal silver box with the FLT logo…then they looked at the REAL Shiba Tatsuya standing in front of them, holding that exact same octagonal silver box over his head in triumph, Shiba Miyuki at his side. It was at that exact instant that the Next Chapter in the History of Modern Magic began…

-To Be Continued-


End file.
